How can you tell if your child is suffering from depression or anxiety?

The pandemic has been hard on everyone. But children, in particular, are suffering at unprecedented rates.

According to JAMA (The Journal of Medical American Medical Association), depression and anxiety in adolescents soared during the pandemic. At the same time, physical activity and access to mental health therapists decreased, causing the American Academy of Pediatrics to declare a “national emergency.”

Maryland is no exception to the growing trend. In fact, the most recent Kids Count report notes that during the first year of the pandemic, anxiety and depression increased 36 percent in Maryland’s children and teens (3-17). 

These alarming statistics have parents asking, ‘what are the warning signs of depression and anxiety?’

Five warning signs that your child is experiencing anxiety or depression.

The “national emergency in child and adolescent mental health” recently declared by the American Academy of Pediatrics has been going on for generations in the Black community, says Blu Haven’s director, Monique Harris.Before the COVID pandemic, the suicide rate for Black youth was already alarmingly high and rising faster than any other racial or ethnic group.Harris believes that Black children—and their caregivers—experienced a compounding mental health emergency for decades. Inequity, historical racial biases, and the dismantling of family structure all contribute to the ongoing emergency.“More babies have been having babies over the years,” she said. “The responsibility falls on the babies to raise their babies and to do it alone.”Kids Count reports that roughly 34 percent of households in the U.S. were headed by a single parent in 2019. In Black households, the number rises to 64 percent.