As the holiday season ramps up, it's a time when stress, loneliness, and family pressures often collide. Missouri mental-health providers say young people are especially vulnerable.
National surveys show nearly one in three U.S. teens reports persistent feelings of sadness, which are often exacerbated by the holidays. In a Kansas City-based Metro Council webinar, psychologist Megan Kanya told Missouri providers that these symptoms in kids don’t always look like sadness. She said they sometimes show up as conflict.
"All of a sudden, they go from being a really easygoing kid to, all of a sudden, they are arguing – they're talking back, they're refusing to do school work," she explained. "There may be a lot of school avoidance or refusal. They may have stopped doing chores; they may be having trouble getting out of bed."
Mental-health professionals point out that holiday routines, disrupted schedules, and higher expectations can make those behaviors more noticeable – but they also offer parents a chance to intervene early. Clinicians note they often see seasonal spikes in anxiety and depression between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
With anxiety rising nationwide – fueled for kids by academic pressures, social media, and overall uncertainty – Kanya reminded Missouri families that anxiety itself isn't the enemy.
"Our goal in treatment, and even our goal in assessing it, is never to call anxiety 'bad' or 'negative.' Anxiety is meant to keep us safe," she said. "There are still things that, within our anxiety system or within that warning system, that are effective and help motivate us."
She encouraged families to help kids build what she calls “distress tolerance" – learning to stay grounded when emotions run high. And for anyone struggling this season, help is available 24/7 through the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 9-8-8.
