Kids and Teens’ Mental Health and the Power of Therapeutic Touch
If you are a parent to anyone under 18, a lot has changed since you were a kid. Stress for kids is at an all time high and this article will help you undertand how to help a child with anxiety. That’s why it’s more important than ever to know how .
There’s an influencer around every hallway, telling your kid who to be. Cell phones in schools can’t be avoided, even if your own child doesn’t have one. Bullying is a common phenomenon. And even for tip-top students, homework and testing can raise stress and anxiety levels through the roof.
There are no easy answers for the anxiety our kids and teens face. Consequently, in order for teens to make it through puberty, they need more than just grit.
If you are caring for a stressed out child or teen, you may want to consider therapeutic massage to help reduce their stress.
Healing touch isn’t a remedy most parents jump to, even though its impact is well documented. Also, many parents and guardians are surprised to hear that massage for teens is often covered by insurance.
In this blog, we’ll go through 5 ways that a gentle and therapeutic touch can help a child with anxiety. Massage helps support an anxious or stressed out kid in body and mind.
1. Happy Hormones are Released in a Child and Teen’s Brain During Massage, Reducing Anxiety
In the era of constant connectivity, it’s no surprise that kids and teens struggle with mental health.
One way to combat this anxiety is to help your them boost the production of happy hormones. These hormones include oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. There are many ways to produce these hormones.
One common way is for a massage therapist to administer therapeutic touch that releases these hormones. Thus, the body chemistry changes and anxiety can take a back seat.
Scientific studies, including one conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), validated the profound impact of massage on children’s mental health. A 30-minute back massage was given daily for five days to hospitalized depressed and adjustment disorder adolescents. These efforts resulted in a clear reduction of depression and can help a child with anxiety.
In addition, the kids’ cortisol levels, which indicate stress, were lowered post-massage. The study also records nighttime sleep improving during the study.
2. Massages Emphasize the Importance of Down Time help a child with anxiety
In a world where school schedules seem busier than ever, downtime gets lost in the shuffle.
In teens’ lives, social pressures, assignments, and extracurriculars add up to a full schedule. Not to mention, their lives also might include stress from family matters or the 24-hour news cycle.
Adults understand that the pace of the world is faster than ever. This fast pace is all our teens have ever known.
Enter massage, a time where a person’s only job is to breathe and relax.
Massage is so much more than an escape. It is a tangible reminder of the importance of slowing down. It’s a deliberate act of self-care, an acknowledgment that downtime is not a luxury but a necessity. And teens in this modern world need this message more than ever.
3. Brain Chemistry Re-regulates During Massage
Children were deeply affected by the pandemic in ways that educators and parents are still trying to understand. All this upheaval and explosion in digital life has left its mark on the balance of neurotransmitters in our younger kids and teens’ brains.
Stress disrupts the balance of neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that are essential to our emotional well-being. Anxiety disrupts the limbic system and involves different neurotransmitters, in not only the brain but the body’s organs. If left unaddressed, this can have long-term consequences.
Massage, also known as therapeutic touch, emerges as a subtle yet profound regulator of this chemistry. The gentle pressure applied during a massage session prompts the release of happy hormones. As these happy hormones flood the system, a sense of calm begins to permeate, creating a shield against the stress. This is how massage can help a child with anxiety.
There’s a tangible impact that a nurturing touch can have on our younger kids and teens’ mental well-being. The sense of balance and re-regulation that occurs during a massage can be deeply healing.
4. Massages Help with Biofeedback and Relaxation that Helps Kids with Anxiety
Massages help with hormones, neurotransmitters, and cementing the value of down time.
But there’s another way massage can help: it shows younger kids and teens how to chill out—mentally and physically. Massage isn’t just about feeling good in the moment. Massage teaches minds and nervous systems how to relax and re-regulate with breath.
This learned skill of relaxation isn’t confined to the massage table; it can be a useful tool for whenever life gets hectic. Regular massages help kids to notice how relaxed or anxious they feel. By paying more attention to their bodies, it’s easier for them to find a calmer space themselves when things feel upsetting.
Massages are a simple, practical way to equip teens with mental-health tools that aren’t taught in school, but are necessary for well-being.
5. Therapeutic Touch Can Help Teens with Their Body Image
In adolescence, concerns about body image often take center stage. Societal pressures and idealized body standards can be particularly harsh, especially with social media.
When struggling with body image issues, stress gets built up inside the body, often adding fuel to the fire and increasing feelings of body dysmorphia. Therapeutic massage can help ease that tension. In a more related state, kids are more likely to connect with their actual bodies rather than focusing on what they “should” be.
Massage is tactile and nurturing. A good massage therapist will be able to sense where and how stress has gotten stuck in the body. Through massage, they help their clients release tension, which can help children with anxitey. For people who struggle to accept themselves, the release from massage can be deeply healing. Without this long held tension, they come one step closer to accepting their body and themselves.
Massage: Proven Relief for an Anxious Younger Child or Teen
If your child is struggling with anxiety, there are many ways to support them. Movement, nature, simplifying their routine, and connection are all profound in supporting mental health.
Massage is an avenue that might open the door to greater acceptance, relaxation, and ease for your younger child or teen. Bodywork is often covered by insurance, but note, it is important to find a massage therapist who specializes in pediatric massage. And if you’re reading this, you’re one step closer to helping your child manage anxiety and stress.
Alice Palmeri, LMT works in Southwest Portland, Oregon where she specializes in massage therapy for children. License # 23983
How to Hack Your Hormones for a Better Mood
Massage reduces anxiety in child and adolescent psychiatric patients
Stress, neurotransmitters, corticosterone and body–brain integration
