Don’t mask the signs of anxiety in young children

Think about this: a child turning 5 years old in March will have spent 60% of their young life in the age of COVID. Most, if not all, of the child's active memories will be a time when traveling outside the home means wearing a mask. Masks keep them safe. Masks protect us. Wearing a mask means that we care about other people's health and safety, too. Their first school experiences, if they had them, are all in the era of COVID.

As we enter a new phase with indoor mask mandates being lifted*, how is a young child - whose entire conscious recollection of life involves wearing a mask in public - supposed to process the "new," sometimes maskless world?

As an adult, we may welcome getting back to the "new old" ways; a child may have a harder time understanding it. As odd as it may seem, they may feel a loss of security, control, and comfort.

Parents and caregivers may see children exhibit a variety of behaviors: complaints of stomach aches or other pains when plans involve leaving the home; a regression with toileting, sleeping, or eating habits; acting out; crying for "no" reason; or other uncharacteristic behaviors.

Our early childhood mental health clinic is already helping families and children who experience anxiety and emotional stress due to COVID. We can help you and your child, too.

Give us a call at 914-613-0700 x7031 or email us.

The early childhood mental health clinic supports children (up to 5 years old), their siblings, and their families.

By: Iva Jenkins, LCSW, director of early childhood behavioral health services, The Guidance Center of Westchester

* Mask requirements will remain in effect for state-regulated health care settings, homeless shelters, state-regulated adult care facilities and nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, correctional facilities, transit (buses, bus stations, trains, train stations, subways, subway stations, panes, and airports), and schools and childcare centers.