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This World Mental Health Day, Remember To Check In With Your Kids

Saturday is World Mental Health Day in what has been a particularly difficult year for many Americans. 

Dr. Asha Patton-Smith, a psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente, said that the pandemic has been especially stressful for young people. 

“Social isolation and family stress has affected children and adolescents really more than any other demographic in this country,” she said on WYPR’s podcast The Daily Dose

 

Patton-Smith says anxiety and depression often manifest in physical symptoms. 

“What I get calls on is kids having headaches, there doesn’t seem to be a medical reason. Or stomach pain that just seems to be persistent,” she said. 

She urges parents to understand that anxiety and depression aren’t character flaws or a sign of weakness. She also asks that parents remember to take care of themselves. 

 

Sarah Y. Kim is WYPR’s health and housing reporter. Kim is WYPR's Report for America corps member, and Anthony Brandon Fellow. Kim joined WYPR as a 2020-2021 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. Now in her second year as an RFA corps member, Kim is based in Baltimore City.
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