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A new study shows promising results for reducing anxiety in kids who have anxious parents.

Fact: Anxiety runs in families.

If you're anxious, there's a greater chance your kids will be anxious, too.


*starts breathing into paper bag* GIF from "The Big Bang Theory."

But don't get anxious about having anxiety and giving it to your kids just yet. A new study suggests we might be able to do something about it.

Everything's gonna be OK. Maybe.

This is good news — because anxiety sucks.

Wouldn't it be great to learn how to prevent our kids from dealing with something that we wish we didn't have to deal with? That's exactly what researchers wanted to find out when they conducted a study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Here's how they approached the study.

First, they look at the facts.

10% of kids in the U.S. meet the criteria necessary to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. That's a lot of kids. What can we do about that?

Well, they also noted that children of anxious parents have a greater risk of developing anxiety disorders. Which makes sense, right? Because, as they noted, "specific parenting practices, such as modeling of anxiety and overcontrol/overprotection, contribute to elevated anxiety." Basically, if we're anxious, we do stuff in our daily parenting that can make our kids anxious, too.

The researchers pointed out that other programs aimed at reducing anxiety in kids, like family-based treatments and cognitive behavioral strategies, showed some promise.

Next, they embarked on a yearlong study to determine whether they could help kids of anxious parents avoid ending up anxious themselves.

Researchers looked at 136 families with kids between the ages of 6 and 13. At least one of the biological parents in each family had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Their kids, however, were not diagnosed with an anxiety disorder nor did they meet any criteria to warrant a diagnosis.

The families were divided into two groups:

1. The "information-monitoring" group

These parents received a 36-page informational packet about anxiety disorders in addition to information on treatment for anxiety. Basically, they handed them a stack of papers, told them "good luck," and then left them to figure things out on their own.

2. The "intervention" group

Instead of going it alone, these families were asked to attend eight 60-minute sessions with a licensed therapist over the course of eight weeks — plus three optional monthly "booster" sessions.

Your therapist, basically. GIF from "Jerry Maguire."

The first two therapy sessions were for the parents only, and the remainder were for the entire family. In the sessions, therapists taught families how to recognize signs of anxiety, how to reduce it, better problem-solving and parenting techniques, and other skills.

The conclusion? In the two groups studied, those that received additional help fared much better after one year.

At the end of the one-year study period, the children were again evaluated for anxiety disorders. Although 19 kids in the "here's your information manual, good luck" group — just over 30% — developed an anxiety disorder, the other group saw a lot more success.

Only three kids in the hands-on, expert-led group — 5% of participants — developed an anxiety disorder. That's an impressive difference — nearly sevenfold!

Thumbs up for good news! Image by iStock.

Dr. Golda Ginsburg, a psychiatry professor and the lead researcher in the study, explained to NPR that an extremely important thing parents were taught is that kids need to face their fears, not avoid them.

We anxious parents might be inclined to steer our kids clear of situations that could make them anxious, but that's pretty much the opposite of what we should be doing because, as Ginsburg said, "they need to help them face their fears in order to reduce their anxiety."

However, the research here isn't finished.

An notable limitation to the study, according to the researchers, was that the families studied were volunteers, most of them white and consisting of two-parent "relatively high" income families. And then, of course, there's the question of, "How do we actually help American families in general?"

So there's work to do to make this research truly useful. But until then, those of us with anxiety can keep this info in mind and find ways to help ourselves so we can help our kids.

I'll leave you with this bit of advice, from the authors of the book "Anxious Kids Anxious Parents" that echoes what the researchers taught study participants and feels like a good place to start:

"Worry and anxiety are normal. They show up when you are doing something new or different or challenging. Your job is to step into the uncertainty of life, not away from it. Knowing how to respond to your worry — not how to eliminate it — is the key. Parents must focus on raising children that can tolerate uncertainty and problem solve so that kids feel equipped as they grow."
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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

True

It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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