Rates of anxiety and depression among youth have surged over the past decade, with diagnoses more than doubling in some age groups.
These conditions are not merely "brain problems" but whole-body issues rooted in a developmentally hostile environment that keeps young nervous systems in a state of chronic stress.
Foundational lifestyle interventions, including protecting sleep, reducing screen stimulation, improving nutrition and restoring play, can effectively recalibrate the nervous system and improve symptoms.
Experts emphasize that healing requires realigning children's daily lives with their biological needs for downtime, connection and physical activity.
In pediatric offices across the nation, a silent epidemic has become a daily reality. Where a decade ago it was unusual, doctors now routinely diagnose children and teens with clinical anxiety and depression at alarming rates. This shift isn't a mystery but the predictable result of a childhood environment that has become fundamentally misaligned with healthy development. Driven by chronic overscheduling, sleep deprivation, digital overload and nutrient-poor diets, the nervous systems of young people are being pushed into a perpetual state of high alert, with devastating consequences for their mental health....<<<Read More>>>...
