Despair to Repair: Online Resources For Anxiety Every Parent Should Know
As a fiction writer, I have created fantasy worlds infused with courage and heroism to help children cope with challenging anxiety. The process got me thinking: what else is out there that can help our children cope?
As parents, we cherish our children’s mental health as the most sacred treasure in our world.
We also know formative-year anxiety predisposes kids to somatic diseases [1], functional impairment [2], and lifelong depression [3]. Yet, the daunting reality is that anxiety, with its many guises, still casts a shadow over our young ones.
From my experience with my son, I know that watching your child suffer leaves you feeling helpless. Sometimes, your child needs more support than you alone can provide. Sometimes, you simply cannot access the professional services they need as often as they need them.
In a recent blog, I delved into the depth of the mental health crisis for kids and discussed the severe shortage of ental health professionals. Read that if you haven’t, but today, I’m exploring the different lifelines available – the DIY online resources to help us guide our children from despair to repair.
Plus, I investigate if there are ways to help our children that are more enjoyable and don’t leave us exhausted and with a broken bank balance. It is important to note that working with a mental health professional is far more important than anything I’ve written here. I’m not a psychologist, I’m an author, and even though some of the things I’m talking about below seem interesting, they are not a substitute for having your child work with a mental health professional.
If you or your child are struggling with mental health, talk to a professional, not an author!
Online Resources for Anxiety in Children
Our online adventure spans a trio of interventions, each tailored to children aged 8-18 and designed to transform their anxiety into resilience.
Games for Anxiety Disorders in Children
Can’t get your kid to focus on anything other than a screen? It is not a problem and can help treat anxiety in public spaces.
Children primarily process their internal world through play, and with gamification, games designed by psychologists can teach healthy emotional processing.
These shining beacons can help alleviate anxiety symptoms into excitement and achievement as they advance in the game. They also help reinforce that looking after your mental health is an enjoyable activity, not a chore.
Triumfland Saga: An excellent tool for nurturing emotional resilience in kids, this scientifically-backed marvel seamlessly merges entertainment with emotional education. Crafted by clinical and academic psychologists, it caters to children aged 7-12, encouraging daily play sessions lasting between 10 and 45 minutes.
Players can personalize their in-game characters to reflect their self-image or aspirations. A constant sidekick avatar prompts conversation by asking questions as tasks. Depending on the player’s responses, the sidekick empowers players with positive affirmation, aids in understanding emotions, or offers soothing techniques. The avatars use sliders and images instead of words to foster emotional labeling and teach children how to quantify and express their feelings. The avatar will even walk your child through consulting a trusted adult when situations exceed the game’s scope.
Completing coping tasks earns stars that players can use to customize characters and reinforce a sense of accomplishment. Notably, a “lights out” feature ensures uninterrupted sleep by disabling the game from 9 PM to 8 AM, avoiding sleep interference. Since offline play is also supported, it is accessible on a smartphone whenever needed.
Here is a list of 7 more games that can help with mental health challenges:
- Sparx (https://landing.sparx.org.nz )
- SuperBetter (https://superbetter.com )
- FearLess! (https://www.triplep-parenting.com/us/parenting-courses/fear-less-triple-p-online/ )
- MindLight (https://gemhlab.com/games/mindlight/ )
- Joyable (https://onemindpsyberguide.org/technologies/joyable/ )
- Personal Zen (https://personalzen.com )
- Chill Panda (http://chillpanda.co.uk )
Games like these are fantastic for helping children struggling with anxiety as they reach them where they live – on their electronics and can help during those stressful moments.
Podcasts For General Anxiety
In our quest to bolster children’s mental well-being, we cannot underestimate the paramount role of quality sleep in anxiety management. It equips young minds with the rejuvenating rest essential to growth and building resilience.
One remarkable podcast that aids in fostering a restful sleep environment is “Nothing Much Happens.” This soothing podcast caters to children and adults, offering a treasury of tranquil bedtime stories. These narratives transport young listeners to calm and serene settings, allowing their minds to unwind from the day’s challenges. Given that anxiety often intensifies during the quiet of the night, providing children with these calming tales becomes a valuable addition to their anxiety management toolkit.
Calm Kids provides mindfulness programs and movement exercises tailored to children’s needs. These resources allow our young ones to navigate their emotions in an overwhelming world by teaching them to focus on specific stimuli and how to calm their bodies.
There are numerous fantastic podcasts out there in the podiverse that deal with anxiety and mental health for kids. Do a little searching, you might find something that could give you a little help.
Books and Audiobooks For Social Anxiety Disorder
As a fantasy writer, I’ve witnessed the enchanting power of stories. Nowadays, audiobook versions of many bestsellers unlock this magic for our teenagers in a format they actually find engaging.
Fantasy books transport us to worlds where harsh realities are softened by metaphor. Allowing the courage of the character to reign supreme, and anxiety is a shadow to be vanquished. This framing makes anxiety seem conquerable. It gives them a healthy escape from life when the temptation for unhealthy mechanisms is high, which can be helpful for teenagers who are dealing with social anxiety. By immersing themselves in a different world, teenagers can take a break from their worries and focus on something else.
Here is a great list of books that deal with anxiety and fear.
Many of these books, but not all, have an audiobook associated with them. I’m a big fan of audiobooks as I listen to one in the car when I’m driving to work, or going to the market, or maybe heading to a school to do an author visit. Initially, it served as a good distraction for our son when we were trying to get him into school, but like many of the anxiety coping strategies we tried with our son, it only worked for a while, 🙁 .
Check out the list here: https://readingmiddlegrade.com/middle-grade-books-about-anxiety/
It may not be a huge surprise, but I think the audiobook version
of Facing the Beast Within: The Anxiety of Cameron Poole would be a great resource as well. Of course, I might be a bit biased :-). The narrator, Tyler Kent, does a fantastic job with the character voices and really nails Cameron’s anxiety. You should give it a listen; reviews have been very positive.
There are numerous audiobooks on Audible.com that deal with anxiety. Click HERE to see a list. They’re an easy listen and can provide some great information and insight.
Conclusion
Today’s journey revealed a realm of online resources, a digital arsenal to empower our children in conquering anxiety. However, this is just the beginning. In the upcoming chapters, we’ll delve deeper, providing practical guidance to parents and caregivers on harnessing these resources effectively.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106429/
- https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2022/1200/anxiety-disorders-children-adolescents.html
- https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244X-4-43
Dr. Jennifer Smitkin, a child psychologist and old friend, gave me a few links that might also be helpful to parents.
- https://childmind.org/topics/anxiety/
- https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/12595
- https://www.aacap.org/aacap/Families_and_Youth/Resource_Centers/Anxiety_Disorder_Resource_Center/Home.aspx