Mothers’ well-being is crucial for children to flourish, but maternal mental health has suffered during COVID-19. Successful pandemic recovery for mothers and families depends on four factors.
The mental health effects of the pandemic will likely outlive COVID-19. The goal should be to target mental health symptoms early in order to decrease major long-term effects.
Current mental health services aren’t targeted at young people. The few that are specialise in either complex mental health disorders, or newly emerging ones. We need a place that does everything.
Hope does not ride alone. It has a companion: anxiety. A classics scholar who is a poet notes that, at what may be the end of a long and dark pandemic year, both are in evidence.
Financial hardships in particular are likely to lead to ongoing mental health problems, even as the pandemic subsides. Our program could help many people whose mental health has suffered during COVID.
Stay-at-home orders, school closures and other pandemic measures mean that parents and children are spending inordinate amounts of time together. Here’s how to deal with the inevitable frustrations.
Growing core coping skills isn’t just a matter of learning not to be triggered by children’s strong feelings; it’s also about creating positive meaningful activities that promote mutual bonding.
Anxiety about starting school is common – among both children and parents. This can be for many reasons, but it’s useful to keep in mind exposure to our fears helps reduce anxiety.
While the world is dealing with the biggest health emergency in more than a century, the way people have reacted to the crisis is familiar and predictable.
People in high-risk groups are already more likely to be experiencing negative mental health effects during the pandemic. Spending the holidays isolated from family and friends may make matters worse.
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary
Assistant professor, School of Psychology, Scientist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa