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Helping Your Children Deal
with the Turmoil of COVID-19
Special to The Truth
Turn to
Camp Journey for relief for yourself and your children. A
Journey Through Healing found the August, 2019, camp so
successful and effective that plans were made to provide a
week-long experience in Summer 2020. When pandemic
restrictions intervened, Camp Journey went online in a
one-hour Saturday morning format. Originally intended for
children experiencing loss, grief, trauma, the online
version of Camp Journey is designed to help children deal
with isolation, confusion, and the frustration and worry of
adults.
Public
health actions, such as social distancing, are necessary to
reduce the spread of COVID-19, but they can make us feel
isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety.
The
Centers for Disease Control lists the following symptoms for
prolonged isolation:
·
Feelings of fear, anger,
sadness, worry, numbness, or frustration
·
Changes in appetite, energy,
desires, and interests
·
Difficulty concentrating and
making decisions
·
Difficulty sleeping or
nightmares
·
Physical reactions, such as
headaches, body pains, stomach problems, and skin rashes
·
Worsening of chronic health
problems
·
Worsening of mental health
conditions
·
Increased substance abuse
This is what adults
experience; but how much attention is devoted to the price
children pay?
What symptoms do teachers
have to deal with in their classrooms as instruction resumes
after prolonged online schooling? And what frustration do
both parents and children experience if their technology is
inadequate or several children must use the same computer?
For you own mental health as
well as that of your children, please contact Beatrice
Daniels, trauma and grief management specialist. Daniels
will describe the activities of the online format and share
the responses of the children who attend. Parents who sit
in on the sessions indicate that they have become more aware
of their children’s frustration and themselves learn better
coping strategies. You owe it to yourself as pandemic
restrictions continue.
Contact Beatrice Daniels at
419.376.8159.
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