Muslim Mental Health Series: Childhood Anxiety

Dr. Rukhsana Chaudhry comes on today to kick off our mental health series and gives us SO MUCH insight into our anxieties and how to deal with our kids’. Let’s face it: this pandemic has kicked our collective butts and we’ve seen changes in our kids and in ourselves we haven’t handled well all the time. We can do better by learning better, and when we do that, we MOM better.

Learning to sit with discomfort to teach our kids how to do the same can hit childhood anxiety head-on. Dr. Chaudhry addresses teen needs as well, sharing current research on pandemic-induced social isolation as potentially more hazardous in teens. Filtering information to quell teen anxiety and learning to recognize the signs of mental discomfort and illness in our kids will be key, and the resources she shares with us are amazing. Most importantly, continuing to work against the stigma of mental illness in some Muslim communities is going to be key, so HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS, ya’ll!

Don’t forget to click on the links in the show notes to recognize the signs, be mental health first aid proficient, and learn the lingo of mental health. Tune in to the rest of our episodes on mental health dropping this month, every Thursday at 6 pm EST on Alexa, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Links:https://youtu.be/NrB8Iamo0OA

1. Recognize the signs! Mental Health First Aid virtual training via the American Muslim Health Professional Association: https://amhp.us/virtualmhfa/ 
2. Learn the lingo! Reducing mental health stigma with National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/Home  
3. UCLA Childhood Anxiety Center: https://carescenter.ucla.edu/ 
4. Wellness Toolkit in the Time of Coronavirus from The FYI.org: https://www.thefyi.org/toolkits/coronavirus/ 
5. Muslim American mental health issues with Muslim Wellness Foundation: https://www.muslimwellness.com/aboutmwf 
6. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: https://afsp.org/
7. CDC Coronavirus schedule: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6949e1.htm 
8. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
9. Email: mommyingwhilemuslim@gmail.com
10. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group
11. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast