Childhood anxiety is on the rise globally, and alarmingly for parents in the UAE, 2-year-olds are even showing the signs.
With the new school year beginning on Sunday, some children and parents will almost certainly be experiencing anxious tendencies that can include nervousness, irritability and trouble concentrating and sleeping.
“Anecdotal evidence shows that some children as young as 2 or 3 are presenting with distress for myriad reasons,” says Madeeha Afridi, a Dubai-based child psychologist at LightHouse Arabia. “If a child’s anxiety is not observed and doesn’t get the attention it needs, it can manifest into health, physical and emotional problems as they get older.”
Similarly, Afridi adds, if a child suffering from angst doesn’t get help managing it, academic and behavioural issues can be the result — and this can lead to longer-term damage.
In 2014, the World Health Organization published a report entitled Health for the World’s Adolescents, which revealed that depression — and, as an extension, anxiety — is the predominant cause of illness and disability globally for young people between the ages of 10 and 19.
A 2013 study by Dubai Health Authority showed that one in five teenage students in Dubai showed symptoms of depression.
“The key point for parents to remember in managing anxiety is that the more conversations they have as a family about the new school year, the more they are preventing anxiety for their children and themselves,” Afridi says.
“Open dialogues help the child feel prepared and can be a healthy way to avoid stress and anxiety about the upcoming year.”
Aside from feelings of the unknown usually associated with making new friends or settling in at a new school or class, experts suggest that increases in childhood anxiety can also be attributed to rises in technology use, working parents and a spike in divorce rates, while living abroad and adjusting to a new environment can also play a part.
“Many families move here for a certain period of time and may present with symptoms of depression and anxiety because of their transient lifestyle,” Afridi adds.
Aside from talking to their children every step of the way, Afridi suggests a few things parents can do to make the transition from holiday mode to school mode less stressful:
• Visiting the school
It can be helpful if parents assure their child in the lead-up to the first day of term that they will have a strong support network at school in the form of their teacher, counsellor, coaches and peers. Parents should also consider taking part in back-to-school events that the school may organise for families.
• Giving children the power
In some sense, children feel powerless when most areas of their lives are pre-planned and they have no say over their time and schedule. Where possible, whether it be choosing school supplies, extra-curricular activities or options for lunch, give them a sense of ownership and power, which can encourage them and make them feel empowered.
• Building a home/school partnership
As the school year begins and things start to move at a quicker pace, it’s be helpful for parents to build and sustain a healthy, positive home/school partnership to stay involved and in-the-know of what’s happening in their child’s life. Parents can do this by attending school conferences, keeping a good relationship with their child’s teacher, coaches and counsellor, and being involved and taking part in school events whenever possible.
• Implementing family rituals
Families spend more time with each other during the summer, with more flexibility in scheduling, and it can be helpful for parents to try to create times and activities through the school year where they are still staying connected and bonding as a family. Some ways of doing this can be dinners together as a family, no technology/devices after a certain time at home, family movie or game nights or bedtime rituals.
Abu Dhabi mother of three Gemma (surname withheld by request), who works as a teacher, knows all too well the challenges associated with parenting an anxious child.
Gemma’s 9-year-old stepson shares his time between her home and his mother’s house, and this has led to separation anxiety.
“Anxiety is common in school-age children. With my son, it’s mostly separation anxiety and it’s mostly at bedtime, especially when we have a change of routine such as a new school year or term,” the 34-year-old says. “Fear of not knowing which class he will be in, who will be in his class and having a new teacher.”
Gemma says in her experience as a teacher, this is common for children whose parents are no longer living together.
“As a teacher, I often see the difference in children once their parents get divorced,” she says.
As a result of seeking support, Gemma’s family has worked out ways of dealing with the young boy’s anxiety.
“We made a box and every night for a couple of weeks he wrote all his fears for that day on paper and put it in the box,” she says. “The fears were real, but the box would look after his fears while he slept. This helped him stay calm before bedtime.”
Gemma also read aloud visualisations that she found online. “These took him on a journey like he was [part of] a real story and led him to pleasant, relaxing and calm places,” she adds.
Abu Dhabi-based Sasha Quince of Let’s Go Yoga is a big advocate of children’s yoga classes as a way of managing stress.
“We teach them poses, breathing, meditations, relaxations, coordination and endurance building practices,” Quince says. “We also use certain games to boost self-confidence and trust.”
For the past few school terms, Quince’s sessions have included hyperactive boys.
“It has been rewarding to see them simmer, calm and embrace the practices, helping to manage anger and irritability,” she says.
“Many parents notice that their children simmer down [after doing yoga] or for shy children the opposite is observed, where they blossom and express themselves more.”
If you’re concerned about your child’s behaviour or need help dealing with anxiety, parents groups and associations can be helpful, the school counsellor may be worth a visit or you can see a child psychologist, such as Afridi.
“Speaking to a psychologist can be helpful, because not only is the support based on professional help with their concerns, but it is objective in nature,” Afridi says.
For more information, visit www.lighthousearabia.com and www.letsgoyogame.com.
mhealy@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
AL%20BOOM
%3Cp%20style%3D%22text-align%3Ajustify%3B%22%3E%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3BDirector%3AAssad%20Al%20Waslati%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%20style%3D%22text-align%3Ajustify%3B%22%3E%0DStarring%3A%20Omar%20Al%20Mulla%2C%20Badr%20Hakami%20and%20Rehab%20Al%20Attar%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20ADtv%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
MATCH INFO
Mumbai Indians 186-6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 183-5 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians won by three runs
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
Winner: Miller’s House, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Kanood, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gervais, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Important Mission, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Firnas, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Zhou Storm, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
