Fredericksburg Parent

16 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • November 2024 Observing a caged lion while visiting a zoo with his family, Dr. Jonathan Dalton was reminded of how society's efforts to insu- late children from hardship have had counterintuitive effects. "On its face, the situation looks good for the lion. It doesn't have to face predators. It doesn't have to chase its food. It's getting good veterinary care. It's as comfortable as a lion can be," he said. But watching the lion trace endless circles on a well-worn path in the grass revealed that all that comfort hadn't produced a life abundant with joy and happiness; the lion was miserable. Dalton is a licensed psychologist who has treated anxiety and related disorders for more than 20 years. He is the founder of the Center for Anxiety and Behavioral Change (CABC), a therapy practice that treats children, adolescents and adults suffer- ing from anxiety and related disorders in the Greater Washington, D.C., area. He sees parallels between the lion's plight and the state of mental health among youth today. "We have been successful in removing the struggles and creating comfort for today's children," he said. "Physical health, longevity, infant mortality and literacy rates are all going in the right direction, while mental health is going in the completely opposite direction," he said. "That's the great paradox." "We seek comfort, but we need struggle." Facing Fears fi nding BALANCE We seek comfort, but we need struggle. Get more comfortable with being uncomfortable TOO BUSY TO LEARN TO COPE? While public outcry over the state of mental health has gotten louder in recent years, Dalton notes that even 20 years ago, young people were experiencing far more anxiety than they did during World War II and the Great Depression. Why would today's kids— with so many more modern conveniences, and fewer existential threats—experience these outcomes? "We are seeing this stripping away of the protective factors that have helped other generations before not experience these mental health crises," Dalton said. One of those protective factors is unsupervised, child-directed play with peers. Play has been crowded out by busy schedules—when kids are in school or other programmed activities all day long, they don't have free time where they must make their own decisions, or just learn to cope with boredom. Self-directed play and free time create opportunities for kids to be creative and use their imagination. "What we call risky play can be protective against later anxiety disorders," Dalton said. "It's almost like an immune system being tuned by playing in the dirt."

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