Anxiety is up for everyone during the quarantine and more people are experiencing mental health crises as the virus shows no sign of wanting to give up so soon. Some people have been finding solutions through online therapy, online yoga and even medicinal marijuana bought online through sites like budexpressnow.net. Some of these outlets may help you if you’re suffering from anxiety, though not all are practical for my son. Online learning, no group and scheduled workouts, no sports shot his anxiety levels through the roof. So what could we do to help him? We’ve been trying our best and working through this hard time and I’m going to share our tips on how to deal with teen anxiety during the quarantine. No yoga required!
How To Deal With Teen Anxiety During Quarantine
Listen More & Talk Less
I’ve been asking my son questions but really listening to him more. Trying to get a feel of how he’s doing, how anxious he is and just listening on days when he seems more agitated than normal.
Establish A Routine
We worked on establishing a routine, not as a punishment, but as a way for him to have things to look forward to.
Here’s my son’s schedule:
Healthy Breakfast
School Work
Run or Cardio
Lunch
Computer Time for games, social media, face timing friends
Second workout
Dinner
Computer Time (he needs to at least have 8 hours of sleep)
He added Journaling & Japanese to his schedule, without us suggesting it.
I also gave him my Kindle and bought Kobe Bryant’s book for him to read at his own leisure.
I believe having activities and options gives him less time to think about the virus and be anxious.
Give Them A Reward
I told him if he does his home chores and the extra activities he committed to do, he will receive his allowance to use to buy new games, add extras to his games.
A Little Love Goes A Long Way
I work from home and have a home office.
My son knows I’m busy from 9-4PM, but he often comes in when he wakes up and after he finishes school work.
My husband plays video game with him, they love battling the NBA 2K!
I stop what I’m doing and chat with him, give him a hug and attention, no matter how busy I am.
I also cook things my son likes as often as I can! I feel he knows cooking his favorite dishes is one of the ways I have to show love and affection!
Don’t Dismiss Concerns
When he comes to talk about the virus, talk about his worries and anxiety. I listen, we as parents listen and don’t dismiss, nor downplay his feelings.
We do try to reason and how him what we can control and what we can’t and how we should focus on being grateful and keep our minds busy and our bodies healthy.
Don’t Be Afraid To Say No To Teen Gathering
My son had some friends he liked hanging out with.
We know he misses that, but we absolutely said no to gatherings, no playing sports with friends.
We suggest him to do FaceTime or snap his friends instead.
Turn Off The News
I notice having the news on during family meals made my son more anxious, so I stopped this habit.
I watch in the morning before he wakes up and at night, when he’s on the computer with friends.
School Work
A lot of teens are dealing with anxiety in regards to school work. School is not going to be the same when he does eventually go back – no doubt schools are stocking up on signage kits for school sites for the first few months at least, but at least he’ll be getting the full benefit of the teachers and school environment.
For now, I’ve been watching my son’s assignments and grades at a distance and have made a suggestion that if he has issues, to email the teacher immediately.
It has worked so far, his grades are great and he hasn’t really shown stress in regards to school work.
Diet
We make sure we always have fruits and vegetables. I don’t buy soda, it is a once a week treat.
I don’t buy candy and dessert is also a treat, I make once a week or take my son for a special treat.
Sugar, fried food, bad carbs will help increase unhealthy behaviours, so I try as much as possible to remove those triggers from his diet.
Although many may like to consume something like marijuanahttps://rmblaze.com/shop/”>marijuanahttps://rmblaze.com/shop/”>marijuana day to day in order to help ease the anxiety, I’ve found adding certain other supplements and changing up his diet a little has really helped.
Sunshine
Studies show that sunshine, time outdoors help people who have depression and anxiety, so we make sure, to take walks daily, spend time out in local parks, trails by our home.
The sun and time outdoors not only gives my son that healthy time out from the technology but also gives him family time away from the house.
We also take him out for short drives, just change of scenery is enough to give him positive vibes!
This too will pass.
My goal is to make sure I do my best to keep my son body and mental health in check and go above and beyond to help my teen have a good life during the pandemic. To be honest, it’s not just his mental health that I need to continuously monitor. I’ve struggled at times which is why a friend recommended I try his herb-e micro dry herb vaporizer. I am yet to take him up on his offer but I may do in the not too distant future.
Life is not perfect, he doesn’t follow the schedule every day, yes, we do have to stir him to make good choices….but it’s all good!
Hope you found our tips useful and that they help you deal with your teen anxiety during the quarantine.
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
As usual, give us a Trendy Shout!
[…] Family Activities […]