Swampscott lecture addresses childhood anxiety

SWAMPSCOTT – More than 30 parents attended a lecture on childhood anxiety Tuesday night where topics ranged from “puppy love” to fearing monsters in a closet. But while applauding the effort to discuss childhood anxiety, organizers, parents and local health professionals agreed the issue needs more exposure.”Kids are more anxious with parents being more anxious with the world and economy,” said local parent Stephanie Benevento after the lecture featuring Dr. David Stember, Ph.D. in clinical psychology affiliated with Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital. “But I don’t think people know how to deal.”The volunteer Swampscott Special Education Parent Advisory Council hosted the lecture Tuesday night at the high school. Council Co-Chair Jennifer Nisbet said the talk – and a previous talk by Stember on the subject – were the most well-attended lectures the group has held.”I think that people are aware of the pressures of school and bringing awareness to the community is helpful,” she said.Stember told parents that children and adults are essentially “wired” similarly to avoid anxiety. However, children lack the mental capacity and /or the experience and insight of adults, and often react to stress differently.”They feel that intensity like us, but with a lot less judgment,” Stember said.So to avoid stressful situations, children often have tantrums when they feel “cornered,” they procrastinate on difficult homework assignments, they try to argue their way out of unpleasant tasks by repeatedly asking ?why,’ among many other tactics, Stember said.But without the context of experience – and sometimes well-meaning but, perhaps, overly indulgent parents – children become scared. This can be seen in symptoms from stomach and head aches to a lengthy and emotional drop-off at kindergarten, Stember said.But he also said that many people do not realize that these are signs of anxiety or that they can be treated.School Committee member and Middle School Nurse Marianne Hartmann said Tuesday that she has seen an increased number of students suffering from anxiety and depression, and schools are reporting similar trends nationwide. She is planning to develop a Mental Health Task Force of parents and community members to discuss how to address the issue.”It’s such a big issue,” Hartmann said. “The problems kids are having are getting bigger and more frequent ? but it’s kind of one of those (issues) that no one talks about much. But we’re starting to and that’s great.”Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].