LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — It is a pandemic. Fears of coronavirus have people clearing store shelves of cleaning and paper products, sanitizers, and more.
Some schools are closed, and kids have been forced to stay home and learn online.
Sports and extracurricular activities have been canceled or postponed.
"I would keep my media exposure to once a day, I would also do a daily or every other day good news of COVID-19. Because there is good news emerging about this," said Dr. David Palmiter.
Dr. Palmiter is a psychologist and teaches at Marywood University in Lackawanna County. He said if you haven't already, you need to have a conversation with your kids about coronavirus.
"The younger my child, the more I'm going to hold back on anything that might be taxing or the more the child struggles with depression and anxiety, the more I might hold back information that I think may be taxing, the older my child, the more transparent I'm going to be about the range and what I'm thinking and feeling about this," said Dr. Palmiter.
Dr. Palmiter also said, as adults, we have to first calm ourselves down before we talk to our kids about what can be an overwhelming and scary subject. That may mean getting some professional help.
We also need to consider getting our kids help if they seem so anxious it is affecting their everyday lives.
"Meaning with a good psychologist or find some other resources to find some balance. A lot of people may not realize mental health services can be delivered through video conferencing and there is insurance reimbursement."
According to Dr. Palmiter, while it may seem difficult, families should try to treat this time as an opportunity.
"I can think of this as an apocalyptic retreat or a welcomed stay-cation. How many families think, 'Oh, if only we had time, we'd play this board game together.' I predict that families that do that 15 to 20 years from now their kids will go remember back in 2020 when we…" he said.
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