Lead your pack
Model A Calm Response
It is really important to give your teens facts and be reassuring. But don’t make promises that you cannot keep. The ultimate goal is to find a way to manage your stress, while still providing grounded leadership that will keep you and your family safe.
Put your oxygen mask on first
One of the best things that you can do for others is take care of yourself. Carving out personal time can feel like a burden or even indulgence when we are barely keeping it together and one day bleeds into the next. But when you’re feeling most anxious or panicked it is much harder to be a loving leader, to stay level amidst the crisis, or monitor school assignments or chores they haven’t done. It is the time for self-care.
Ironically, we are also buried in warnings about stress itself being bad for our health and how it makes us more susceptible to the illness. A specific set of sensations occurs when we’re anxious: pounding heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating. This set of symptoms, called the fight or flight response, is designed to help us avoid danger. It is often driving us when we lash out or retreat — snap at someone for no good reason, disappear behind a computer, or tip the power balance by forcing our views. Learn new techniques for recognizing anxiety and managing your own stress to keep your anxiety levels down.
Parents’ ability to foster resilience in our children hinges a great deal on our own emotional resilience.
— Emily Popek, New York Times
Our body, mind, and brain are working overtime, and are in a heightened state of pandemic stress. Fight and Flight.
Learn and talk about fears together
Your children watch you for clues and, through your example, become better equipped to handle their own stress. Help your adolescent to understand these natural sensations in their bodies without overreacting, and how they can learn to bring things quickly back to normal with simple mental and physical tools. This can help give them control over their feelings of anxiety.
Anxiety (fear that is future-oriented) is normal and natural, occurring in children, teens and adults every day. Anxiety becomes problematic when it begins to interfere with everyday life, such as phobias, which are specific, exaggerated fears. Rather than just react, take time to learn, reflect and plan how to talk about this together. Let teens know that the lines of communication are open and that you are always there for them. Empathize that it’s natural to feel anxious and focus on helping them through their feelings so they can successfully face their anxiety. This will help your clan and you navigate this particular moment side by side. You are empowering them to be able to do this in the future on their own.
Over a decade of research suggests that it’s not the type or amount of stress that determines its impact. Instead, it’s our mind-set about stress that matters most. The key to building emotional resilience in the face of setbacks is to build self-awareness and the ability to remain calm and positive, and roll with things.
Re-orient and embrace life-sustaining skills, habits and mindset. Your mind and body are deeply intertwined. It’s a good opportunity to reinforce what you have always told your kids: Get a good night’s sleep, get some sunshine, eat well, make sure you wash your hands and always be a little kinder than necessary.
COVID-19 and Family
Talk about what COVID-19 looks and feels like. It can feel like a cold or the flu. People can get a fever or a cough. They might have a hard time breathing. You can be reassuring that only a small group of people who get sick end up with more serious problems. And we also know, from what doctors have seen so far, that kids don't seem to be getting very sick.
COVID-19 spreads through droplet transmission. When you sneeze or cough, you send out droplets of fluid from your nose and mouth. Those droplets can carry infections, and when they enter someone else's eyes, nose or mouth, the infection can make them sick. This is the way the flu and many viruses are spread. Listen to Dr. David Price, a NY critical care pulmonologist talk about Protecting Your Family From COVID-19.
Droplets can be spread as far as 6 feet away from you, and possibly farther. Cold and flu viruses can live outside of the body for several hours. So if you cough or sneeze and the droplets land on a surface that is later touched by someone else, the virus can spread.
What to do if you feel sick. If you or your kids develop a fever, cough, difficulty breathing, or even mild symptoms like a runny nose or gastro-intestinal discomfort, call your healthcare provider for medical advice. This is not the time to be stoic or silent.
CALL YOUR DOCTOR
