educate
J
Generation Stress
maskmatters.org
SPRING 2018
46
W
orry, feelings of dread, fear,
spinning thoughts. You
can’t catch your breath,
your heart is racing, and
you have knots in your
stomach.This is anxiety.
We all experience anxiety. It’s normal
and necessary at times. However, if taken
to the extreme, anxiety and other disorders
of anxiety (i.e., panic, obsessive compulsive
disorder) can be debilitating and impact
our functioning and quality of life.
Anxiety disorders are the most
common of all mental illnesses in the
United States, affecting 5 million children
and teens, and 40 million adults age 18
and older. Anxiety disorders are labeled
“diseases of anticipation” or the “what ifs.”
They range on a continuum from mild to
severe.The good news is that anxiety is
treatable and actually can be managed.
Anxiety is our natural internal alarm
system informing us that danger is close
at hand and we must be ready for it. It
can be a motivator to protect, perform or
prepare, and can be a coping skill—albeit
an unhealthy one—used to avoid and to
feel in control.
Some people are genetically vulnerable
and predisposed to be more anxious. If a
parent suffers from an anxiety disorder, a
child is up to seven times more likely to
have an anxiety disorder, as well. Children
do not directly inherit an anxiety disorder.
However, they may be exposed to
fearful or negative thinking, and be
sensitive to feeling and experiencing
more frequent negative emotions.
Let’s face it, these are fearful times.
In fact, finances and our children’s well-
being are the biggest sources of
anxiety. For children and teens,
it’s about safety and security.
In order to help and support our
children and teens, we must first be
aware of our own way of dealing with
stress and anxiety. Our kids are watching
us and the energy we exude is absorbed
and internalized by our children. When
we model how a person can manage
anxiety (rather than just explaining it), we
convey that anxiety can be dealt with, and
even defeated. Congruently, we, as parents,
don’t want anxiety to control us and
impact our steps toward wellness.
CALM
is a great acronym to
remember tools and skills to manage
stress and anxiety in our lives.
C – Catch it,
challenge it, change
it.
This is a great skill that helps you
analyze faulty thoughts or distortions,
challenge the truth of those thoughts and
change them to more positive or healthy
thoughts. For example, catch the negative
thought, challenge it by identifying
that this type of thinking is distorted or
irrational, and change it to a more positive
and new mindset.
THE
ANXIOUS
PARENT
By // Dr. Dena Cabrera
A – Accept.
You cannot control
everything. Put your worries in
perspective and reframe.
L – Learn.
Know your
triggers and find ways to cope
with them.This is encouraged not
only for you, but for the family as well.
Setting rules, structure and boundaries
can help enhance family coping.
Examine your household stress: Is the
family overburdened? Is there healthy
communication and connection? Are we
positive in our approach to problems?
M – Mindfulness, meditation,
movement.
Calming the mind and
body is critical and important for
preventing and managing anxiety.
Engage in a form of mindfulness and
meditation via guided imagery, yoga,
and/or spiritual nourishment. Make
movement a priority as a way for the
body to release stress and energy in a
positive and joyful way.
Needless to say, the pressures on
parents are enormous in this culture.
We are pulled in countless directions
and often don’t know how to negotiate
everything there is to get done. We
cannot do this alone. So don’t. Parents
need each other for support to be calm.
