Constantly worried about your child getting sick?

Are you constantly anxious about your child getting sick at school/from activities? If so, you’re not alone.

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The level of health anxiety that we’ve seen over the past 2 years has skyrocketed… and for good reason. We’ve all been primed to be hypervigilant, watchful for every sneeze or sniffle, because we’re expecting the worst.

But this is a reminder: KIDS GET SICK. Read on for some perspective and reminders.

Kids get sick

Part of childhood is being exposed to a myriad of illnesses, and developing the immune response that provides protection down the line.

Believe it or not, in the first year of school, it is normal to have 6-8 respiratory infections (colds, coughs), 1-2 tummy bugs, and a few other scattered viral infections such as HFM or roseola.

The distribution of these tends to cluster (colds in fall/winter, other infections at other times), but this is not always the case… especially recently, we’ve seen some non-seasonal viruses rear their heads as schools reopen and people cluster.

Health anxiety

Anxiety is not all bad. Remember, we are evolutionarily designed to have a fight-or-flight response, and it is adaptive — it keeps us safe to have an “alert system” ready to protect us at all times.

But at the point at which that alert system is “on” all the time, you start to become emotionally drained. We’re not designed to handle that.

Okay, so what can I do?

Here are a few tips to help manage your anxiety as school re-starts.

• Reframe it

  • You are going to have to be able to sit with a little bit of uncertainty and anxiety. It will be uncomfortable. Remember: illnesses happen, even if you do everything “perfectly”. At some point you have to recognize that there are no real risk-free options: its all a balance.

• Minimize time on the internet

  • I’ve said it once and I’m saying it again: Stop googling!!!! We know that the internet is a common source of health anxiety. Find trusted resources (such as this website) to get health information that is written to be something other than click-bit!

• Take it in baby steps:

  • It is okay to start out slow, but we need to recognize that the eventual goal is to have our children interacting and having social lives. Humans are social animals, and while the new normal may not be the pre-pandemic normal, we have to find the balance between pushing boundaries and staying safe.

    • Note that that boundary may be different for different families. But for those of us with health anxiety, you will be tempted to shun extra-curriculars, and birthday parties, and other events and use Covid as your excuse. Push yourself past that temptation, at least sometimes.

• Get moving

  • Get outdoors, go for a walk, get the blood flowing.  Even 10 minutes a day will be helpful.

• Breathe

  • I preach teaching mindfulness to your kids (see my faves page for resources), but its important to practice what we preach too. There is a lot of evidence that supports mindfulness and breathing techniques to help address anxiety.

• Reach out for help

  • If your preoccupation about your child or yourself getting sick is starting to interfere with your daily function (ie interfering with sleep, eating, or doing normal things) then I urge you to reach out to a healthcare professional. There is no shame in this. I promise, you are not the only one struggling!

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You can only control what you can control.

Beginning to recognize (and accept) this is a great first step in addressing any pandemic-related health anxiety you may have developed.

And before you’re tempted to spend lots of money on “immune boosting supplements”, be sure to check out my evidence-based guide to them here.