The COVID-19 pandemic has made many of us worried—all the time. Many are feeling anxious, even if they rarely experience anxiety.
It can be hard to stay calm when there is fear and unease in the media, frightening statistics available at our fingertips, and breaking news accessible to us at any time. How can we stay calm while keeping our loved ones feeling supported and reassured?
Dr. Coyne offers strategies for families to help them cope with anxiety and worry during the coronavirus pandemic.
This content is also available in Spanish.
Audience Questions
Dr. Coyne answers questions from attendees, including:
- Most people don’t know what is going to happen in the future. How do you get that point across to kids without getting them more worked up, without getting parents more anxious? What happens when we don’t have the answer, and how do we confidently relay that we don’t know the answer?
- What happens if a parent feels like they’re the middleman between generations?
- What happens if the family is fragmented (joint custody)?
- Even if you have a close-knit family, how do you keep the tension low and keep a more lighthearted atmosphere?
- How do we bond together when neither one of us is leaving the house for weeks on end?
- How do you address when kids aren’t sleeping well? For example, recurring nightmares, getting up and landing in their parents’ bed in the middle of the night, sleep regression, or crying before they go to bed.
- A lot of teens don’t think that their parents are taking all the right precautions or doing everything they should to keep their family safe. How can these people have positive reinforcement in their household that they are doing all right things and taking the right measures?
- What if somebody is on the front lines and they’re exposed to, not only the virus, but all this information? How do they decrease their own worry and knowledge? How do they keep their families from being affected by it? What are some methods for reducing at least a short-term effect?
- If I get COVID, and it’s a mild case, how do I balance self-isolation and lowering my family’s anxiety by showing them that I’m okay? Is there some sort of balance to breaking self-isolation or would it be better to show them from a distance that they don’t need to be as concerned?
Resources
Parents may also find this additional information helpful:
- Dear Parents: You Aren’t Perfect & That’s Just Fine – by Dr. Coyne
- More webinars from Dr. Coyne
- Fighting Family Burnout During the COVID-19 Crisis
- How Mindfulness Helps Families Cope With Stress
- Video: Coping Tips for Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Digital Well-Being Guidelines for Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic
About Dr. Coyne
Lisa W. Coyne, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, part-time, at Harvard Medical School, and is a senior clinical consultant at the Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.) at McLean Hospital.
Dr. Coyne has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and chapters on anxiety, OCD, and parenting. She is the author of “The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early Years,” a book for parents of young children.
Recent books by Dr. Coyne:
- Stuff That’s Loud: A Teen’s Guide to Unspiraling When OCD Gets Noisy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Clinician’s Guide for Supporting Parents
- The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early Years
Learn more about Dr. Coyne.
More COVID-19 Resources
It’s important to think about ways to manage your mental health during these difficult times. McLean is committed to providing mental health and self-care resources for all who may need them. You and your family may find these strategies from McLean experts helpful to feel mentally balanced and safe during the coronavirus outbreak.
Learn more on our COVID-19 mental health resources page or get access to our COVID-19 Webinar Series.
