Although anxiety is increasing among young people in the U.S., “the bulk of young people [are not] receiving any kind of therapy, even though treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, are a frontline defense against anxiety,” said Dr. Lata McGinn in a recent CNN article.
“The fact that they’re not receiving therapy suggests that they’re basically not learning tools to cope with anxiety on their own,” Dr. McGinn said.
The article reports on the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics survey published in the journal Pediatrics, which reports rising rates of anxiety amid a corresponding decrease in visits to receive effective treatments.
“One of the first steps is learning to recognize anxiety in children early,” Dr. McGinn added. “This type of behavior usually manifests in avoidance — such as being afraid to sleep alone or trying to stay home from school.”
As much as the drive to nurture and protect may push adults to enable the avoidance to ease the anxiety in the immediate term, Dr. McGinn advised not caving to the anxiety while still supporting your child, That approach might mean not letting your child stay home when they are feeling anxious.
“Don’t write off chronically anxious behavior as shyness and instead seek out a mental health professional for an evaluation,” she said.