Although I see clients of all ages, in the last 6 months around 60% are children who have  presented with anxiety of some sort.  Whether it’s fears or phobias, stress around exams or school work or dealing with emotion due to stress or change, the underlying issue  appears to  be anxiety.  There is no doubt that our kids are feeling the pressure and most do not have the skills to cope with or deal with these emotions.

I came across a plethora of online information specifically about kids and their inability to manage their fears and anxieties, but also that there seems to be a lack of awareness and still a stigma attached to having a “mental health” issue.     As I continued to do research on this I found The Child Mind Institute (USA) report which reflected what I was seeing in my clinic.

“Of the 74.5 million children in the United States, an estimated 17.1 million have or have had a psychiatric disorder — more than the number of children with cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. Half of all psychiatric illness occurs before the age of 14, and 75 percent by the age of 24.”

“In spite of the magnitude of the problem, lack of awareness and entrenched stigma keep the majority of these young people from getting help. Children and adolescents with psychiatric illness are at risk for academic failure, substance abuse, and a clash with the juvenile justice system — all of which come at a tremendous cost to them, their families, and the community.  Thats a whopping 20%.

Another article, The Ladders Blog by CW Healey reported just over 17% of children between the ages of 3 and 17  in the USA have been diagnosed with anxiety in 2017.    Looking a bit closer nearly half of them have been diagnosed with depression.  (According to the Center For Disease Control And Prevention, )

So what is the breakthrough?

  – In this same article they talked about one of the best and effective ways of managing this and the benefits of teaching younger kids meditation and mindfulness.  Several recent studies showed how meditation helped kids to better manage their emotions enabling them to quickly feel calmer and more focussed.  Again I get great results in my clinic.

So what happens next when it comes to Anxiety and Kids?  Although more schools are looking at mindfulness programs across the world only 10% offer one at this point in time however the discussion has started.    The other interesting fact is that 79% of parents ( a US stat) are making a point of practicing mindfulness with their child at home and noticing real results in the level of overall happiness and performance at school.  This is also reflected on my Kids Hypnosis youtube channel where 52% of my subscribers are from the USA where many are using sleep hypnosis regularly to help relax and calm their kids thus promoting better and deeper sleep.

  

So if you have a child who is suffering from anxiety or depression and you are struggling to find help, have a look at using mindfulness, meditation or hypnosis (its all the same) for 10/15 minutes a day.   Try out Kids Hypnosis Bonnie which already has had over 1 million views on youtube and will help your child relax both mind and body and get better quality sleep.  The app Sleep for Kids has a selection of age related stories that all focus on helping kids to sleep as well as helping with some other issues such are anxiety, fear etc.  All the stories and written and narrated by Elaine Martin and when you download the app you can get 7 days free trial.