Kansas City area pediatrician Dr. Natasha Burgert wants parents to become more prepared to help when their children are struggling with anxiety. She told KCUR's Up To Date that is why she wrote her new book, "Managing Childhood Anxiety For Dummies."
"I think that most kids are perfectly capable of learning about anxiety and their emotional health and responding appropriately," she said. "The vast majority of kids with anxiety just need a little validation that their experience is real and support from people who love them."
Burgert said the amount of children experiencing anxiety has increased in recent years, but people have also gotten much better at identifying it.
"Certainly, we're still seeing the results of the pandemic. Screens are in the room, we have to consider those. There's a ton of parental stress and parental anxiety that amplifies the kid's experience," she said.
"But, I do think that we have better science. We're screening earlier. We're working with mental health professionals a lot more directly. We're asking parents what support they need in order to make sure that their child's social-emotional health is optimal. So much of it is environmental, a little bit genetic, but also we're just talking about it more, which is identifying these kids earlier."
- Dr. Natasha Burgert, pediatrician and author
