The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has forced many people to distance themselves from friends and family members. Here are some resources to help you address the potential mental and emotional effects of being isolated.
Coping with Stress and Anxiety
A video message for kids from Cincinnati Children's, to help them overcome feeling worried, scared, or confused.
The World Health Organization provides a picture book in multiple languages and presented in video format to explain COVID-19 to children. It walks through what COVID-19 is in an easily understandable format, the ways to avoid contracting it, and the common experiences children around the world are sharing during this world-wide pandemic.
Suggestions to help children and teens learn how to calm their anxiety.
Taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health. Cincinnati Children's psychologists Drs. Williams and Zahka recommend these exercises to help you cope with emotions like worry, stress, or feeling upset, and help with situations that you feel you can’t do much about.
Follow these communication tips to keep your children informed and reduce their anxiety around COVID-19.
In this article Caroline Miller from the Child Mind Institute provides tips for parents providing support for older children and teens during COVID-19. Article is available in both English and Spanish.
This video teaches kids how anxiety is a normal biological response – called “Fight, Flight, Freeze” – that can get triggered inappropriately in the modern world.
Child Therapist Natasha Daniels discusses how parents can help their children with anxiety disorders or OCD during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Division of Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children's provides guidance for teens through its suicide prevention outreach program, Adapting For Life.
Parent handout from the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery with education on self-injury, signs to look for, how to talk to your child about self-injury, maintaining safety, and seeking out treatment options
Look out for signs that your child is stressed, and follow these tips for supporting them.
The Child Mind Institute teaches parents techniques for managing stress in a healthy way.
Changing Thought Patterns
Negative thinking patterns contribute to depression, amp up anxiety, or make painful emotions feel overwhelming. Child Mind Institute offers these suggestions for helping children and teens change their negative thinking patterns.
Learn how to teach your kids CBT tools that can help their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mindfulness strategies for coping with stress and worries during the COVID-19 crisis.
An article about mindfulness, including specific strategies and resources for parents, teachers, and organizations.
Relaxation Tools
Learn to calm anxiety or anger with this deep breathing exercise for young children.
In this 7-minute animated video, learn to relax your entire body to help with anxiety.
Learn to relax your entire body by purposefully tensing each muscle group and releasing it. This 15-minute video guides you through the process.
Help relax the mind and body and decrease anxiety with this 10-minute guided imagery video.
Physical Symptoms
Children and teens often experience physical symptoms, such as headaches or stomachaches, in response to difficult emotions. This website offers information about what pain is and how to manage chronic pain.
Children and teens often experience physical symptoms, such as headaches or stomachaches, in response to difficult emotions. During the COVID-19 crisis, THIS WAY UP is offering free access to their courses on pain.
In this 10-minute video, learn about chronic pain and what can be done about it.
Behavior Management
Read the eight helpful steps on the Cincinnati Children’s blog.
Learn why preschool temper tantrums happen and how to manage them.
Internet Safety
The Cincinnati Children’s blog offers advice for how parents can keep their teens safe online through a combination of monitoring and teaching.
More tips for teaching your child how to use the internet safely.
Grief Tools
The Child Mind Institute provides suggestions on helping children cope with grief.
General Mental Health Resources
MindPeace is a non-profit partner of Cincinnati Children's that works to improve children’s mental health access and quality, and provides mental health resources on their website.
Develop social emotional skills through this virtual field trip. Watch the video and try the learning activities.
Access a collection of videos and resources that support healthy living.
A collection of videos from FIU Center for Children and Families on a variety of child mental health topics.
Dartmouth provides a library of free downloads of relaxation tools that parents and children can utilized to help decrease their anxiety including deep breathing exercises and guided imagery videos.