32 LEISURE Coping
MediaBakery“Dear struggling parents: It’s not just
you,” said Susanna Schrobsdorff in
Time .com. The past year “has made
everything that’s already difficult about
adolescence that much harder,” and as
the pandemic drags on, many Gen Z
teenagers and young adults “are now
grappling with serious depression, becom-
ing self- destructive, or losing motivation
for school.” In a survey published by the
American Psychological Association sev-
eral months into the pandemic, no other
generation reported higher levels of anxi-
ety than those in the ages 13 to 23 cohort.
Among those 18 to 23, more than 7 in
10 described themselves as miserable or unhappy, and also said
they sometimes felt so tired that they sat around and did nothing.
A parent doesn’t have to solve such a problem alone. The Child
Mind Institute (childmind.org), a national nonprofit, can be a
resource for helping to assess the situation. Also, “it’s good to
remember that for many teens, having an adult who’s not you to
talk to, someone they trust, can make a huge difference.”If your child is seriously struggling, you can be a steadying force,
said Rhitu Chatterjee in NPR.org. Any parent would be upset
to learn a child is depressed or even suicidal, but when the child
shares such thoughts, “react calmly” and “really try to listen to
what your kid is saying.” Don’t make the crisis about yourself,and what you’ve done or not done. Also
know that people who are clinically
depressed cannot simply “buck up” and
get it together. It’s important that you
validate their feelings and not suggest,
for example, that they’ll feel better if they
exercise daily. Instead, “ask them what
they need and support them in getting
that help.” You can also lead by exam-
ple. When parents label their own feel-
ings and openly discuss their struggles, it
gives children the emotional vocabulary
they need to open up.Of course, many depressed teens would
rather confide in someone their own age, said Ellen McCarthy
in The Washington Post. That’s one of many reasons that the
pandemic has been “uniquely brutal” to teenagers’ mental
health: “They’re missing once-reliable emotional outlets, like
venting to friends between classes.” Teen Line (teenlineonline
.org), a Los Angeles–based nonprofit founded in 1980, is proving
to be a vital resource. The crisis line allows teens to confide in
other teens—trained volunteers available to chat every evening.
Many of the volunteers have struggled with their own anxiety
and depression, and they’ve found that helping others gave them
hope. “It’s so empowering after every shift to know that I was
there for someone,” says 18-year-old Abi Raderman. “I helped
someone who didn’t feel heard to be heard.”Pandemic parenting: How to help a depressed teenager
A heightened need for foster parents
“The pandemic has created new challenges
in the foster-care system,” said David Dodge
in The New York Times. Fortunately, if you
think you’d like to help any of the children
in the system, “getting started is easier than
you might think.” Generally, “the best thing
you can do is pick up the phone and call your
local agency”(childwelfare.gov has a direc-
tory). If taking a child into your home is too
much, you could instead provide transporta-
tion for siblings to visit one another, or serve
a child as a mentor. To be a foster parent, you
must undergo 10 to 30 hours of education
and training, followed by a 3- to 6-month
home study by the governing agency. “Once
you get trained and gain some experience,”
says Colorado foster mom Chastity Gomez,
“you realize it’s totally doable.”
How to make your own maple syrup
For those in the know, it’s now “sugaring
time,” said Tim MacWelch in Outdoor Life.
If you have a maple tree in your yard, you
could tap it yourself to make syrup. Sap flows
best when nighttime temperatures are below
freezing but daytime temperatures break 32.
Buy at least one maple tap, or spile. (A single
tree trunk can be tapped once every foot of
diameter.) You’ll drill into the trunk, hang a
bucket or plastic jug from the spile, and har-
vest about a gallon of sap a day. Ten gallons
typically boil down to a quart of syrup, and
the steam produced makes boiling outdoors
preferable, whether over a wood fire or pro-
pane burner. To avoid scorching the syrup,
“watch your sap like a hawk as you near the
end of the boiling process.”Managing work as a Covid long-hauler
“It isn’t easy for Covid long-haulers to return
to work,” said Krithika Varagur in The Wall
Street Journal. Many Covid survivors who suf-
fer chronic fatigue, dizziness, and other symp-
toms now face another challenge: “convincing
their colleagues and employers that they have
a diminished capacity to work.” If you’re a
long-hauler, be sure to communicate that you
have difficulties with certain tasks. (Even writ-
ing emails can be taxing if you have chronic
brain fog.) To avoid overexertion, pursue a
part-time arrangement if your employer will
allow it or take half-hour breaks throughout
the day, even if doing so requires extending
the length of each workday. Meanwhile, take
the maximum disability benefit you’re allowed
and look into state-run vocational rehabilita-
tion, which is often free with a doctor’s note.Distancing season: Making the most of it
“Regular Twitter is so much shout-
ing and nonsense,” said Sirin Kale
in TheGuardian.com. But don’t
write off all social media, espe-
cially #NunsOfTwitter. Under that
hashtag, nuns share photos of
hand-knitted sweaters and fascinat-
ing stories about how they became
nuns. Many of the participating nuns
are politically engaged, of course,
and nun Twitter is not without its
saltiness. “But people are polite.
They disagree with each other cour-
teously.” The same might be said
of religious Twitter generally—the
social media universe inhabited by
monks, ministers, rabbis, and the
like. If all you know of social media
is name-calling, “entering religious
Twitter feels like wandering into an
animal sanctuary after sitting court-
side at an MMA match.”And if you’re bored...
Listening is always the first step.