I sat on a parenting panel last month with a well-known and widely respected counselor by the name of Sissy Goff, M.Ed, LPC-MHSP. She is the Director of Child & Adolescent Counseling at Daystar in Nashville and when asked about the biggest issue facing kids today, she confirmed what you’ve probably read about recently on your news feed or even your Facebook feed – the increasing anxiety epidemic in our country.
But it’s not just an epidemic among our kids. It’s an epidemic among us -- their parents.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety is the most common mental-health disorder in the United States, affecting nearly one-third of both adolescents and adults.
In a recent article entitled “Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering from Severe Anxiety” we glean significant insight into the anxiety epidemic:
I’ll just share just two key points from the article:
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Turn off the cellphones.
ReplyDeleteSnowflakes. Its up to the parents to raise their kids the old school way.
ReplyDeleteI have had young people working for me that could not finish the simplest task be cause " It gave them anxiety " Really ? Anxiety ? Wait until you have some real responsibilities in this world. The phone pacifiers too are to be left in their cars. Tears come to their eyes.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder. Too bad it's not like it used to be. Life was less complicated then. The world we live in now causes anxiety in a majority of people. Stress kills!
ReplyDeleteYou buck up and lean in and don't let it get to you. Let's send them all to the liberated Coal Mines and see how they fair.
ReplyDeleteHow about letting them play outside,walk home from the bus and loose the cell phones and video games.
ReplyDeleteYou mean "Snowflake Syndrome" Where any mention of earning your own way, feeding and housing yourself and working towards providing for others makes one cry in your safe place clutching a cellphone, crayons and teddy bears?
ReplyDeleteGosh, I'm SO concerned!
That ain anxiety, that s helicopter parents telling their entitled spoiled children to fly the coop w/ no wings. Sad part their parents make excuses for their entitled, lazy tails. Its called anxiety.
ReplyDeleteThey have been conditioned to believe everyone is holding SOMETHING against them and are out to ruin their chances in life. Worry, worry, worry.
ReplyDeleteThey have been conditioned to think they can't succeed because so many people don't like women, gays, foreigners, teenagers, black folks, you name it, and they need to be ever-alert for triggers and mean words. It can be an exhausting existence. Worry, worry.
Mostly, I think it's because they are so damn stupid and live in fear (and anxiety) they will be discovered as such.
They can't add, read well, follow instructions, write ANYTHING, legibly and coherently fill out a form, and don't pay attention very long to any task.
If, all of a sudden, you were thrown into the big bad mean world with such a poor set of skills, you too would have some "anxiety".
It also doesn't help that they see Mom popping Valium and Xanax and whining about "stress".
Keep cheering.
Cream puffs. Get out & do something constructive. Maybe, just maybe, you'll feel good about yourselves.
ReplyDelete