Mental Health Resources

Talking to your Child about COVID-19

Concern over COVID-19 can make children and families anxious. Acknowledging some level of concern, without panicking, is appropriate. Helping children cope with anxiety requires providing accurate prevention information and facts without causing undo alarm.

Specific guidelines

• Remain calm and reassuring

• Make yourself available for discussions

• Avoid excessive blaming

• Monitor television viewing and social media

• Maintain a normal routine to the extent possible

• Be honest and accurate

• Know the symptoms of COVID-19

• Review and model basic hygiene and healthy lifestyle practices for protection

Keep explanations age appropriate

• Early elementary school children need brief, simple information that should balance COVID-19 facts with appropriate reassurances that they are safe and that adults are there to help keep them healthy and to take care of them if they do get sick. Give simple examples of the steps people take every day to stop germs and stay healthy, such as washing hands. Use language such as “adults are working hard to keep you safe.”

  • Additional resources for supporting younger children: Early Childhood Resources

• Upper elementary and early middle school children will be more vocal in asking questions about whether they truly are safe and what will happen if COVID-19 comes to their community. They may need assistance separating reality from rumor and fantasy. Discuss efforts of school and community leaders to prevent germs from spreading.

• Upper middle school and high school students are able to discuss the issue in a more in-depth (adult-like) fashion and can be referred directly to appropriate sources of COVID-19 facts. Provide honest, accurate, and factual information about the current status of COVID-19. Having such knowledge can help them feel a sense of control.

Additional resources:

National Association of School Psychologists Talking to Children about COVID-19

University of Wisconsin-Madison Talking to Kids about COVID-19

COVID-19 Stigma and Racism

Anxieties and fears related to COVID-19 may also lead to misguided blame being placed on others who are perceived to be associated with the outbreak. It is important to inform children in a developmentally appropriate manner that the disease is linked to a geographic location and not a race or nationality. Children look to adults for guidance on how to respond to stressful events. Adults can help children understand the importance of treating all people with dignity and respect.

Guidelines

• Model acceptance and compassion

• Provide useful information

• Avoid stereotyping people or countries

• Stop any type of harassment or bullying immediately

• Discuss how it would feel to be blamed unfairly by association

• Explore children’s fears

• Emphasize positive, familiar images of diverse groups

• Identify “heroes” of varying backgrounds involved in response to traumatic events

• Undertake projects to help those in need with people from diverse backgrounds

• Discuss historical instances of American intolerance

• Learn about diverse communities and faiths represented in your area

• Read books with your children that address prejudice, tolerance, and hate

Additional resource:

National Association of School Psychologists Countering COVID-19 Stigma and Racism

Adjusting to Changes in Routine

Not only has COVID-19 contributed to health-related worries and fear, but major disruptions from daily routines can be difficult to manage for both children and adults. All kids (and adults!) profit from structure, predictability, and routines during times of uncertainty. Younger children, children with special needs, and children experiencing high levels of situational anxiety during this time may need structure even more. Visual schedules, forced choice of activities, and if-then charts can be beneficial to incorporate in the daily routine, as well as the following tips:

• Set realistic goals of work completion with built-in activity breaks (e.g., the amount of time a five year old can work independently is much shorter than a middle schooler)

• Be creative about new activities

  • Social-emotional and indoor/outdoor activities ideas listed later in this document

  • Teachers and schools have created optional enrichment activities

  • Many online subscriptions are free or reduced in price

  • Be strategic about screen-time

  • Encourage reading

• Maintain children’s social connections through Facetime and other virtual sources

  • For teenagers and young adults, emphasize the importance of social distancing and understand their frustration over not seeing friends

• Include incentives when needed

• Limit snacks and encourage healthy habits

• Set behavior expectations for when adults have to complete at-home work tasks

• Engage in self-care, keep it positive, and lead by example

  • While also being able to accept and ask for help

• Use these events as an opportunity to discuss gratitude with children, but also validate their disappointment over losing important experiences

Additional resources:

Child Mind Institute Supporting Families during COVID-19

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope

Make Social and Emotional Learning Stick How to Build Structure at Home

Supporting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Children with ASD may need additional support to process and adapt to the many changes associated with COVID-19. They may face additional challenges related to comprehension, communication, difficulty understanding abstract language, an insistence on sameness, and a greater likelihood of anxiety and depression—all of which may be exacerbated during this stressful period.

Strategies to support individuals with ASD

• Support understanding

  • Describe virus and current situation in concrete terms

  • Use a social narrative and provide visual supports

  • Offer visual cues to clarify the passage of time

• Offering opportunities for expression

  • Provide multiple opportunities for family members to express their feelings through discussions, writing activities, movie making or plays

• Prioritize coping and calming skills

• Maintain routines

  • Sleep/wake routines and household chores routines

  • Use of visual schedule to facilitate

• Build new routines

  • Transition off screens

  • Use of visual timers to aid with transitions

  • Offer choices

  • Create work space with a to-do list

• Foster social connections

• Be aware of changing behaviors

  • Be alerts for signs of anxiety and depression since children with ASD may not be able to verbally express fears, frustrations, and anxieties

Social Narrative COVID-19:

The Autism Educator: What is the Coronavirus?

Additional resources:

Autism Focused Intervention Resources & Modules Supporting Individuals with Autism

Supporting children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Children with ADHD may benefit from engaging in the following practices to ease anxieties and create a healthy daily routine:

• Do a daily reality check

  • Stop “What if” thoughts and write/draw them or say them out loud, then examine them

  • Helpful graphic of what is in and out of personal control

• Keep a daily schedule including periods of work, exercise, and fun activities

  • Sample schedule here

• Avoid unhealthy hyperfocus by creating a boundary of time around areas of trouble (such as video games, television)

• Stay social by finding ways to connect with others

eBook free for download with mindfulness, yoga, breathing techniques, exercise, and green time activities.

Additional resources:

Coronavirus toolkit: ADHD Edition

Managing Fears & Worries

Fifteen ways to help kids who are worried about COVID-19:

1. Be available to talk

2. Acknowledge worries

3. Limit news exposure

4. Stick to routines and boundaries

5. Start or continue mindful practices

6. Set and track daily goals or habits

7. Practice controlled breathing

8. Try progressive muscle relaxation

9. Use grounding strategies

10. Set a timer for worries

11. Write a story or draw a picture about defeated personified worries

12. Use a journal or feelings tracker

13. Avoid participating in worry rituals

14. Avoid excessive reassurance

15. Be mindful of your own worries

Grounding exercises help bring one’s attention back to the present by connecting to the physical word through one’s five senses. This can help with feelings of uncontrollable worry for both adults and students.

5-4-3-2-1 Activity

• Describe 5 things you can see right now

• Describe 4 things you can feel with your sense of touch right now

• Describe 3 sounds you can hear, or your 3 favorite sounds

• Describe 2 things you can smell around you, or that you like to smell

• Describe 1 thing you can taste right now, or that you like to tase

Additional grounding exercises: https://www.thehopeline.com/25-grounding-techniques-panic-attacks/

Deep breathing:

• Lie down or sit comfortably and place hands on belly

• Ask them to inhale deeply through their nose

• Tell them to fill their belly with air as they inhale; they should feel it get bigger and bigger until their lungs are full (younger kids can see the stuffed animal get higher and higher

• Ask them to exhale slowly until all of the air is released

*Young children can use a stuffed animal to help make the breathing more visual: If their stuffed toy sits atop their belly, they will see it rise as their belly “fills with air”. Encourage them to make their stuffed animal rise as high as possible. Then, the child will notice the stuffed animal fall as the child exhales

Additional breathing exercises: https://copingskillsforkids.com/deep-breathing-exercises-for-kids

Sample progressive muscle relaxation script:

• Lie down or sit comfortably in a quiet room and take slow breaths

• Think about the muscles of your head and face, now scrunch them up tightly and clench your teeth, hold that as you count to 10, then allow all of those muscles to relax. Notice that feeling of relaxation in your face, and your jaw loosening

• Now concentrate on muscles of your shoulders and neck, tighten up your neck muscles pulling your head down, shrug your shoulders up, hold that uncomfortable tightness, for a count of 10, then let all those muscles relax and notice the feeling.

• While continuing your slow breathing, move your attention to your arms and hands, tightening those muscles further and further, hold it as you count to 10. Then allow those muscles to relax.

• Now think about the muscles in your legs, your bottom and your feet, tighten all these muscles up, feel the hard tension throughout your legs, hold it as you count to 10, then allow your legs and feet to relax as you continue your slow breathing.

• Now that all of your muscles have relaxed, continue your slow breathing and take some time to enjoy the sense of relaxation. Focus on how the most relaxed areas of your body feel now.

A certain level of worry, stress, and sadness is expected during this period of time with concerns about individual health and the health of loved ones, major disruptions to routine, and social isolation from friends and peers. However, if you have concerns about your child’s mental health related to depression or suicidal ideation, please note the following information and the associated resources.

Suicide risk factors and warning signs:

• Depression, conduct disorder, and substance abuse

• Family stress/dysfunction

• Environmental risks including presence of firearm in the home

• Situational crises

• Direct and indirect suicidal threats

• Suicide notes and plans

• Prior suicidal behavior

• Making final arrangements

• Preoccupation with death

• Changes in behavior, appearance, thoughts, and/or feelings

Children and adolescents who feel suicidal are not likely to seek help directly; however, parents and peers can recognize the warning signs and take immediate action to keep the youth safe. When a youth gives signs that they may be considering suicide, the following actions should be taken:

• Remain calm.

• Ask the youth directly if he or she is thinking about suicide (e.g., "Are you thinking of suicide?").

• Focus on your concern for their well-being and avoid being accusatory.

• Listen.

• Reassure them that there is help and they will not feel like this forever.

• Do not judge.

• Provide constant supervision. Do not leave the youth alone.

• Remove means for self-harm.

• Get help

  • 911

  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK

  • Crisis Text Link (text “HOME” to 741741)

Additional resources:

NASP Preventing Youth Suicide Brief Facts and Tips and Tips for Parents & Educators

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Helpful Resources

Online sites

• Social Emotional Learning Toolbox for Children and Teens: https://spark.adobe.com/page/Z8dpzG87JXlFN/

  • Includes: What is the Coronavirus, Answering Kid’s Questions About the Coronavirus, MythBusters, Mindfulness Challenge (Videos and Apps), Self-Care Checklist, List of Non-screen Activities, Local and National Help Numbers and Hotlines, and Multilingual Resources for Schools

• Ideas and links to stay physically and mentally healthy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xuOFtTlby9sdkM6VIJ6yHe8df2BHo1w8idSezFxjRjw/mobilebasic

  • Includes: Free online yoga, pilates, dance, ad fitness classes, exercise and wellness apps, and mental health resources

Apps

• Breathe- personal check-ins, mindfulness

• Dhyan Vimal online meditation:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dhyan-vimal-online-meditation/id1027767208

• Insight Timer (lots of free meditations, searchable by focus, amount of time, etc)

• Mindshift

• Stop, Breathe, and Think: https://www.stopbreathethink.com

• Jour (journaling app) https://jour.com

• Headspace https://www.headspace.com/covid-19

• Mindfulness Apps: 3 Minute Mindfulness, Calm, Simple Habit

• Three Good Things- positive thinking/gratitude https://darlingapps.com/three-good-things

Additional apps resources:

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/finding-an-assistive-technology/8-meditation-apps-for-kids

https://socialexpress.com/#http://thesocialexpress.com/

Books

• List of books to help children understand and cope with anxiety, worry, and stress. Includes “The Huge Bag of Worries” by Virginia Ironside and “It’s Okay to Make Mistakes” by Todd Parr, as well as many more

• Free, online book in pdf format to support and reassure young children about COVID-19

  • https://www.mindheart.co/descargables

  • Accessible in various languages

• Audiobooks:

Audible

• Podcasts:

Peace Out- Stories for Calming Down and Relaxation

Community Connection

Website to get and give support locally: Support CVILLE https://www.supportcville.com/

If you have any questions or have trouble accessing any of the resources listed in the document please contact the WMS counseling department.