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Why anxiety and Covid-19 have created a love-hate relationship with our children's electronics
Lauren Mauck • May 15, 2020
With emotions running high, and many under stay at home orders, electronic use is on the rise. A great way to connect to friends and family? Or a gateway leading to anxiety, isolation, or addictions?
As a parent, your response to the Covid-19 outbreak can vary from day to day. Circumstances influence our response. Our response to Covid-19 today may be different than it would be ten years from now. The number of children and their ages can impact how much stress or anxiety one is currently dealing with. Likewise, employment and marital status can alter the stress levels in the home.
With emotions running high, and many under stay at home orders, electronic use is on the rise. Electronics are now serving as a way to connect to friends and family. In addition, electronics serve as a meaningful distraction for parents trying to work.
On the contrary, electronics can lead to anxiety, isolation, or addiction. The love-hate relationship with electronics may be affecting your children's anxiety.
As you try and find balance through the Covid-19 pandemic, you may need more support. Eagle's Wing Counseling and Coaching are open and offering services through telehealth service providers.
People react differently to stressful situations like the Covid-19 outbreak
During times of uncertainty, how we respond to stress and hardship influences others. Your children are learning how to react and respond to life's hardships by watching how you do it. You may feel extra pressure to be setting a good example for them to follow. Yet, anxiety may inhibit your ability to react to Covid-19 as you would like to be.
While the lives of your children have flipped upside down, so has yours. It may be hard to feel like a role model when you want to stay in bed all day or eat your emotions.
How can you manage your stress and anxiety and help your children process their emotions too? At Eagle Wings Counseling and Coaching, we help parents and children process the feelings that come with Covid-19.
The pros and cons of electronic time, in relation to Covid-19 and anxiety
Has electronic time in your household increased significantly since the Covid-19 outbreak hit? If so, you are not alone. You may be feeling anxiety or guilt in regards to the amount of time your children are on their electronics.
Electronic time has been a heated discussion long before Covid-19 entered our world. Studies link electronic time, which includes social media, screen time, and gaming, to anxiety and depression. Electronic overuse is also linked to an increase in suicide-related behaviors. Furthermore, electronic time can lead to isolation and addictions.
On the other hand, electronics are providing a much-needed connection to friends and family. Electronics can provide the social interaction you and your kids need. They are also keeping kids entertained as parents try to fulfill their obligations at work while staying at home.
Ultimately, how much electronic time your children will get every day is your decision. Deciding what that looks like will vary according to your family's needs.
How to support your children through the anxiety of stay-at-home orders
During a time of anxiety, talking with your children is crucial for their emotional and mental health. Taking time every day to speak with your children can benefit both of you.
- Talk with your children.
- Answer questions about Covid-19.
- Validate their emotions and listen to their concerns.
- Help them process and react to the disappointments they are experiencing.
- Furthermore, talking can help you identify anxiety or depression they may be developing.
Another way to support your children is by interacting with them. During a time of so much stress, laughter can help lighten the load. You can play a game or learn a new TikTok dance together. Exercise helps with anxiety and depression. So, exercising in any form is a great activity to do together.
If you are struggling with how to support your children while managing your own anxiety and fears, we can help you. Schedule a telehealth session
with Eagle's Wing Counseling Center today.
It's time to say hello to 2021. Often, people set New Year's Resolutions with anticipation and hope. Yet, with PTSD, instead of feeling hope, you may be in a constant state of anxiousness, grief, or overwhelm. Finding the internal resources to achieve a lofty goal may not seem possible. So, what can you do instead?
The holidays are often viewed as a time of love and happiness. However, the holidays can produce feelings like loneliness or hopelessness. As a result, you may encounter more triggers that may lead you into the cycle of your porn addiction. However, what if there is a way to begin to interrupt the vicious cycle?
Sexual addiction is real. Likewise, the addiction can be incredibly dangerous and emotionally destructive. Just like other addictions, sex addiction is not simply about craving sex. In fact, similar to those with other addictions, they have underlying issues like shame, anxiety, depression, and stress.
Access to porn seems to be easier than it's ever been. Many voices out there say that viewing porn isn't bad and can be healthy for relationships. This may make you wonder if porn addiction is even a real thing. Porn addiction is real. The neuroscience behind porn addiction shows it is similar to substance addiction.
Sex-addiction therapists have more than doubled since 2008. Likewise, sexual addiction cases continue to rise, even though it's not an official mental health diagnosis. Sexual addiction brings a particular set of challenges and trauma into the relationship.
You may be all too familiar with the term emotional affair. In the beginning, you weren't aware that your partner's texts with a co-worker were creating feelings that he hadn't felt in a while. However, with the increase in late nights at work, you began to suspect infidelity. It wasn't too long before you discovered there was more than work going on between them. So, while you feel like he's cheating, he claims it's nothing more than an emotional connection. Now, you're wondering if an emotional affair is the same as infidelity.
For couples without children, the ties dissolve, and the relationship likely does too. However, for couples with children, relationships could last forever. Is it possible for couples to heal their relationships and co-parent effectively? The answer is yes.