Not what you thought: this is what worries parents the most in 2023 - voila! health

2023-02-02T11:54:02.278Z

A report that surveyed thousands of parents in the US revealed that 40% of them are very worried that their children will deal with anxiety or depression at some point, and 35% fear that they will be a victim of bullying. Here are all the details

Iris Kol interviews Dr. Oren Tana about the effect of the corona virus on our mental state (Walla system!)

40 percent of US parents are very worried that their children will deal with anxiety or depression at some point, according to a new survey. According to the Pew Research Center report, mental health is the biggest concern among parents, followed by bullying, which worries 35 percent of parents. These concerns have increased about the fear of kidnapping, the dangers of drugs and alcohol, teenage pregnancy, and getting into trouble with the police.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that being a parent is a little more difficult than they expected, about 41 percent said that being a parent is tiring, and 29 percent said that it is stressful all the time or Most of the time. The new report is based on a nationally representative sample of 3,757 US parents whose children were under the age of 18 in 2022.

More children and teenagers suffer from depression nowadays.

Illustration of a depressed girl (Photo: ShutterStock)

These parental concerns are well founded.

Experts have been saying for some time that mental health problems among children and teenagers have skyrocketed in recent years, especially after the corona virus.

For example, the annual report of the Elam association published last year revealed that 1,432 teenagers and young adults tried to harm themselves in 2022, 1.5 times compared to 2019. 1.5 times reported drug use, 1.3 times alcohol use, and 2.2 times suffered from eating disorders.

"During the last 10 years, I have seen a change in both the number of patients and their ages dealing with anxiety and depression. And their parents are worried about it," said Dr. Catherine Williamson, a pediatrician and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, "even before the corona virus, we saw a skyrocketing number of children and youth dealing with mental health problems, and this has grown exponentially since the epidemic."

Warning signs that parents of teenagers simply must pay attention to

To the full article

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide has become the second leading cause of death among children aged 10 to 14 during the corona virus.

Also, visits to the ER related to mental health among children aged 5 to 11 and teenagers aged 12 to 17 jumped by 24 and 31 percent, respectively.

When it comes to anxiety and depression in children, pediatricians explain that parents can watch for signs such as a decrease in interest or enjoyment in things they used to enjoy, poor self-esteem and changes in mood, appetite or sleep.

In addition, parents should consider the amount and content of social media their children consume, as studies have found that it has negative effects on their mental health.