I am very fortunate to love what I do, but i must say, some days are more difficult than others. A large part of my practice is focused on childhood and teen anxiety (i also see adults), and it is so upsetting to see the frequency of children coming in and not even knowing what they are experiencing. I find i get an influx of teens right after mental health week at their school, which i am so pleased they have this awareness because it works. They come in saying that they didn’t know there was a name for what they have been feeling for years, and if there’s anything that i can help them with naturally.
I firmly believe that helping people with anxiety (or really any mood disorder) should be a team approach. I always hope these children have their families and parents support, but also someone to talk to like a counsellor or child psychologist, as well as support from their MD. Where I live, we luckily have places like R.O.C.K. (http://rockonline.ca) that offer fantastic services and programs for children.
If you are a parent, and have a child that is experiencing anxiety, please take action in getting your child support, and follow these few tips that can help start you in the right direction nutritionally for your child:
- Clean up their Diet – Did you know that 95% of serotonin is produced in our digestive system??? That’s amazing!!! So, what if you have a child that has multiple food sensitivities, often complains of stomach aches or has eczema, and eats a diet consisting mostly of breads, pastas, chips and cookies. Hmmm! The answer is that they are most likely not optimizing their serotonin and dopamine production. Food sensitivities causes inflammation in the digestive system which will then decrease the production of these neurotransmitters so important for mood. You need to focus on having them eat a diet high in nutrients, found in green leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, and good sources of protein. Sugar should be minimized and grains should be reduced. (A point about grains – did you know that all of our grains are fortified with folic acid? Unfortunately, about 40% of the population cannot convert inactive folic acid to active folate, which is needed to help make those neurotransmitters. So, guess what the solution to this would be? Decrease their intake of grains. One of my favourite diets is Paleo.)
- Get some sleep – Getting an appropriate amount of sleep is very important for our overall health and
mood. Ensuring your body is able to produce ample melatonin during REM sleep will help children to cope with stress and worry. Often times, if you suffer with anxiety, you will have difficulty sleeping. People complain of their mind racing, as if they can’t turn their thoughts off. A great suggestion for this, is to try taking some magnesium. I prefer magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate. You can often find delicious flavoured magnesium powders that kids enjoy taking before bed. It is very relaxing and may help them fall asleep faster – but a warning, if you give too much it make cause some loose stools. Please follow directions on the supplement label. - Practice some Mindfulness – studies show that 20 minutes of meditation reduced anxiety by as much as 22% in healthy subjects (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4040088/). Teach your children to sit quietly and breath with no distractions. This is not as easy as it sounds! I usually have my patients start with 2 minutes and work your way up from there. There are a lot of great apps that you can try, i like Headspace, but you should find one that resonates best with your personality.
I’m hoping these 3 helpful tips can get your child a few steps closer to feeling calm and less anxious. There are many other areas that can be addressed such as supporting specific nutrients in order to enhance the serotonin and dopamine responsible for mood. Always remember that your body is one whole unit, so when there are changes in one area there are often changes in others. You have to address stress and adrenals, thyroid, immune function, digestive health, and many other areas to really treat the person.
So first things first…gather up a support team for your child, as nobody can do this alone, and get the help that they need until you feel confident that they’re feeling like themselves again. No child deserves to feel anxious or depressed, but we as parents have an obligation to make them feel better.
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