By Eric H. Ball, ACEs Aware, November 8, 2020
I am a primary care pediatrician. My usual day consists of seeing a few dozen kids in my office. Most of them are healthy and happy. We discuss growth and development, give some immunizations, and answer parental questions. Then COVID-19 hit, and everything changed.
My role has dramatically shifted in the last seven months. Now I spend a great deal of time each day helping families deal with the psychological impacts of COVID-19 and the unintended consequences of our response to the coronavirus.
Children thrive on structure and predictability. Most crave social interactions and play, and all children rely on stable and healthy adult relationships. This has all been affected by the COVID-19 emergency. Most children were sent home to conduct school online. Playdates and social interactions were cancelled. Their caregivers were stressed, some lost their jobs, or went off to work in high-risk frontline positions. We are now seeing the aftereffects of this in a new mental health crisis.
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