Episode 2: “Parenting is the most triggering work you can do.”

Anxiety sucks. You can’t tell why it affects some brains and not others. Talking about it—often in the context of a “mental health crisis”—often makes it worse. It makes you wonder if you’re a bad parent.

And it’s not even a new phenomenon. The CDC reports that persistent feelings of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness among young people increased by about 40% in the 10 years before the pandemic.

Whether your anxious child is five or 25, however, Dawn Friedman, MSEd treats anxiety as a family issue, because parents need to assess their own needs in order for the family to function as a unit. And just because your child is struggling doesn’t mean you’re bad parents. Some kids are just harder.

Other links:

• “If a good mother is one who loves her child more than anyone else in the world, I am not a good mother. I am in fact a bad mother. I love my husband more than I love my children.” — Ayelet Waldman.

• Books by Frances L. Ilg and Louise Bates Ames, while conducting research at The Gesell Institute.

• You can learn more about Dawn at Child Anxiety Support and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.