The recent announcement that schools will remain closed for the remainder of this school year will have different effects on different children. Many kids can exhibit symptoms or reactions that you may not realize are the cause of emotional trauma or stress. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much kids hear adults, media outlets, or other family members talking about what’s going on in the world. For this reason, we have complied some resources to help caregivers recognize possible symptoms of emotional stress, how to respond to those reactions, as well as resources for both you and your children.

• The Nation Child Traumatic Stress Network has provided a great guideline (linked here) that we strongly recommend our patients’ caregivers look over. The last two pages of the handout go over age specific reactions, how to help, as well as extra resources. Even if you don’t think your child is currently exhibiting any signs/symptoms of stress, it may be helpful to look at them now to help you recognize them later.
• Intermountain Healthcare launched an Emotional Health Relief Hotline for community members, as well as healthcare workers, who may feel overwhelmed or stressed. The hotline is a free resource that connects callers to a trained caregiver who can provide self-care tools, peer support, treatment options, and crisis resources. The hotline (833-442-2211) is open 7 days a week from 10am to 10pm. Please let your adolescent children know of this available resource.

Our office is still providing Well Child Check ups for all ages and we strongly encourage caregivers to continue to bring your children and adolescents in for their appointments. Please see our previous nurse blog post for changes we have made to our office to decrease the spread of germs. We hope everyone is staying safe and staying healthy, and as always please call our office if you have any questions or concerns!