Local mental health expert shares tips on hurricane anxiety in kids

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Severe weather threats can be stressful for anyone especially kids as they face the threat of school closures.

Mary Jo Horton, manager of behavioral health at Memorial Health said it’s important to stick to a normal routine to help reduce anxiety. Monitoring things like screen time and sleep schedule will help your child stress less.

Horton said creating a plan and communicating with your child about changes with that plan can also help ease worry.

“Being able to properly plan as the adult so kids have a general expectation, but the adults is handling when things have to change and being able to communicate to a child,” Horton said. “Say ‘listen, this is our plan, it may change, I’m the adult, I’ve got this, I’ll tell you everything you need to know and we’re going to roll with it.’”

Horton also said it’s a great opportunity for families to come together and fight through this challenge together. Being strong and keeping positive goes a long way when dealing with a situation like this.

“So, what a great opportunity to plan for not having lights, what a great opportunity to plan for being home. Building resiliency occurs when we go through things that are hard,” Horton said. “And so, I really think this is a wonderful opportunity for families and kids to show that they can get through this together.”

Most of all she wants parents to know that you must lead by example so if your child sees you stress then they will stress. It’s all about staying calm and problem-solving when needed.

“So, I would always like to add that we need to be gentle and kind with ourselves. There’s no magical way to talk to children about things,” Horton said. “There’s no magical way to handle things that are stressful. If we set an intent of being positive and problem-solving, we’ll learn how to get and we’re going to be okay.”

Creating activities around the house will help to keep them busy and will help ease stress.