Everybody’s stressed out under the pandemic. It’s not just working adults feeling the crunch, but teens also feel more stress. With COVID-19 upending people’s lives, it’s hard to get back on track.
Teen Mental Health During COVID-19
CNN reports that several thousand teens in Arizona have reached out to Teen Lifeline during the pandemic. Callers to the hotline rose by 6% during this year’s summer. Before COVID-19, summertime callers usually went down by 30% to 40% during the summer. Since it’s summer vacation, kids simply have less to worry about.
Arizona’s trends reflect a rising trend of depression, anxiety, and PTSD among teens in the US. Mental health issues among teens have become a problem in the US as well. In 2019, 16% of American teens reported having these issues.
Listen to Your Kids
At the Teen Lifeline, the counselors do not advise the teens. Instead, they just listen to the callers. This way, the callers feel heard. If you have a teen, you will help them more if you listen to them talk about their problems. You don’t need to give solutions or disagree with them. Most of the time, teens just want their parents to listen to them.
Tips for Teens
CNN also offers more tips for helping your teen kids:
- Listen to your kids with an open mind
- Talk to your children about the things they can control
- Look out for signs of serious issues, like a persistent bad mood
- Practice self-care and set a good example
By sticking with your kid, you can weather the pandemic together. Hopefully, we can all emerge from this crisis stronger.
