Signs of anxiety in children can take the form of bedwetting, becoming irritable, having bad dreams and in older kids it can show up as a lack in confidence in trying new things, difficulty concentrating, outbursts and more. For parents, guiding and managing a child with anxiety can be taxing.
Adi Wallach, CEO of CalmiGo, can discuss tips and tricks for parents to utilize with a child suffering from the symptoms of anxiety. Adi, having suffered from anxiety herself, developed a solution CalmiGo, the first and only natural, drug-free device that empowers children suffering from anxiety disorders to easily manage their own anxiety and stop debilitating panic attacks in less than three minutes anywhere, in any situation.
I had a chance to interview Adi Wallach, CEO of CalmiGo to learn more.
How widespread is anxiety in children?
According to the CDC, anxiety and depression affect 9.4% of children (around 5.8 million) ages 3-17 years old. As you focus more on adolescents the numbers unfortunately increase to 31.9% diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, which is markedly higher in female adolescents at 38% compared to male adolescents at 26.1%. Additionally, after the COVID-19 pandemic children and adolescents had higher levels of anxiety and tragically, there has been an increase in suicide amongst adolescent girls.
Why is it important for families to have solutions that can be used anywhere?
Kids who suffer from anxiety often can become dependent on their parents because they are scared and the parents also want to help their kids, which can create a dependency. When such a dependency is created it puts stress on the entire family system. CalmiGo is designed to empower kids to manage their anxiety independently and go back to situations that they may have been avoiding. Parents like it because the kids take it anywhere so when anxiety kicks in they can use it wherever they are and without the need for a parent to support them.
How can controlling breathing help relieve an anxiety attack?
I would be careful with the word “controlling” because trying to control breathing can actually create more anxiety. When you concentrate on trying to regulate your breathing you actually activate the sympathetic nervous system, which is where the anxiety comes from – instead, we want to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. CalmiGo is designed to guide kids how to gradually and effortlessly extend exhalation lengths which activates the parasympathetic nervous systems to send a signal to their brain to stop the fight or flight response.
What are some other things that parents and caregivers can do to help children manage their anxiety?
Light/moderate exercise is great, especially if it is outdoors. It’s important to keep exercise to light or moderate intensity since very intense exercise can increase the stress hormone (cortisol) level. The outdoors is also very healing. Doing anything in nature is great. I would suggest avoiding foods that have caffeine or sugar. I like to make my kids hot cocoa with natural sweeteners and unsweetened almond milk. Also, getting enough sleep and having a daily routine can decrease anxiety as well. And, of course, CalmiGo! CalmiGo can calm kids in less than three minutes of use and they can take it wherever they go. It’s drug-free so there are no side effects. It works well because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system and kids love it since it’s a cool tech gadget. Kids use it to help them sleep at night and at school to help them calm down and concentrate.
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