Addressing rising anxiety rates in kids

(ABC 6 News) – With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, health experts at Mayo Clinic are talking about the mental health affects the pandemic has had on kids and teens.

During those years health experts say kids learn to build social networks, and understand how to operate in a community, but the pandemic interrupted that process, and took away a lot of those social opportunities.

Now, health experts say some kids are finding it hard to express their feelings, and it’s important for parents to be patient and try to work with them to understand how they may be feeling.

"When kids bring this up we need to address it, we need to respect it and get them the care that they need. If they don’t bring it up we need to, as parents, caregivers, teachers, and community members, be available to our kids, let them know we care, let them know we are there to talk," said Dr. Marcie Billings, a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic.

Experts recommend screening kids for anxiety starting at age eight through eighteen in an effort to get in front of any issues that could present themselves.