Parents who become obsessed with helping their children “relax” could be fueling an anxiety epidemic in Australia, a clinical psychologist has warned.
Dr Judith Locke led The Project on Thursday to deliver her harsh verdict on overprotective parents and carers causing a growing mental health crisis among young people.
She believes parents who worry too much are transforming their children’s “very normal stress levels” into full-blown “clinical anxiety.”
“The difference is that clinical anxiety is very widespread,” Dr. Locke said.
‘It’s an extreme level of distress and it also has a huge impact on their lives.
“Whereas a normal kind of anxiety is apprehension or fear of doing something new or challenging.”
Instead of focusing so much on their children’s feelings, Dr. Locke urged parents to stay out of the way while their children face challenges, within reason.
“One of the big problems is that parents themselves are anxious about the fact that their children are anxious, and that leads them to ask their children a lot more: ‘How do you feel about the school camp that starts next week?’ Or that school starts next week?” she said.
Dr Judith Locke (pictured) believes parents’ hyper-obsession with their children’s feelings is fueling an anxiety epidemic.
“Those discussions about feelings focus the child on what might just be a little nerves and begin to amplify them, particularly when the parent wants to be sure that their child isn’t feeling those things.
“Inadvertently, they amplify it and make it much more important than is good for them.”
Panelist Sam Taunton questioned why Dr. Locke believed that, when it comes to children’s concerns, “less is the key.”
The expert’s response was blunt: “The nerves are normal.”
‘Do a job interview, start a new job or a new school, “They are normal things, but we have started to turn them into something terrible,” he said.
‘We’ve started to think that we need to talk about feelings all the time.
“We are much better at identifying feelings, but what happens is that we are discussing them too much.”
Dr. Locke used the example of a child preparing for a presentation.
Dr. Locke explained to The Project panelists that parents are paying too much attention to their children’s worries and preventing them from developing resilience (pictured, panelist Sam Taunton).
“We found that people think a lot more about how they will feel about giving the speech in class next week than they do about preparing for it,” he said.
“The big problem with this is that at some point they go to their family doctor or their psychologist and say, ‘Can you write me a permit to get me out of the school camp?’ or ‘Make sure you have my best friend in class.’ “.
“It prevents them from learning to cope with mildly challenging situations, which makes things worse over time.”
While it may be difficult to watch your children struggle, Dr. Locke insisted that a child’s ability to cope is key to tackling anxiety, helping them develop resilience, independence and resourcefulness.
“All those things come from doing hard things,” he said.
‘…Even though it may make you feel terrible, encourage your child to do the hard things.’
Data from Queensland Health found that one in fourteen children and young people aged four to 17 in Australia experience an anxiety disorder.
The information was reflected in parents interviewed by The Project on the street, and many noted that their children seemed to suffer from anxiety.
Data shows that one in fourteen children and young people aged four to 17 in Australia experience an anxiety disorder.
“It’s probably more common today than when I was a kid,” one said.
“I think it’s something we worry about as kids get older,” another admitted.
“I’m definitely worried about my daughter and what she’ll probably be like in five or ten years,” said another.
If a young person in your life is struggling, call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 for confidential support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.