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five-minute reads

 

Welcome to Five-Minutes Reads!

These little articles offer parenting tips and helpful ways of thinking about things as well as cover news and current events relevant to family life that catch my eye. I hope this content is helpful to you. If you find it interesting or helpful, please feel free to share it with others.

Questions and comments are welcomed and may be directed to office@mcginnisbehavioral.com. Enjoy!

 
 
 

Coping During a Pandemic

(From the Archives, August 2020)

by Chris McGinnis, PhD, BCBA-D

I’ve seen an inordinate amount of kids and teens expressing worry about their flagging motivation and concern for their future lately - enough to prompt me to write this post and offer some words of guidance and encouragement.

As human beings, our motivation level does not occur in a vacuum but instead is impacted positively and negatively by the world around us. The world has been largely shut down for more than four months now and the socialization our species needs at some fundamental level has been greatly reduced, as has our general physical activity level. Additionally, we do not like uncertainty, a word which perfectly sums up our current status as it relates to the course of COVID-19. Uncertainty feeds anxiety, and that over a number of months can wear us down in every way.

However, like the Desiderata says, “Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.” That’s great guidance for us here, along with Fitzgerald’s “This too shall pass.”

My general advice is to encourage your kids to be physically active and to socialize with friends (online if we must) each day, and to let them know YOU are not afraid of their future and that this too shall pass. Model good coping for them and let them hear your laughter. Socialize with your teen here and there each day instead of allowing them to stay holed up in their bedrooms - insisting on having them help you with chores at certain prescheduled times of day and meal preparation are some suggestions for interaction serving as breaks from their bedrooms. The more contact you have with them, the more impact on their worldview you can have.

Moreover, we should accept that motivation follows sort of a sine wave pattern over time for all of us. Some days and weeks we have more energy and focus and get more done while other days and weeks we feel more like kicking our feet up. This is normal for human beings, and so it’s normal for kids as well. Let them know that.

One day we’ll all look back on these times and wish we could go back and not worry so much. Hang in there my friends. And please let your kids know things are seldom as bad as they seem when you’re in it.


 

Dr. Chris McGinnis is a family psychologist in private practice based in Jupiter, Florida. His website is www.mcginnisbehavioral.com.

 
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