Chicken Little the Sky Isn't Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the New Age of Anxiety

by Erica Komisar

This is a comprehensive guide for parents who want to raise emotionally healthy, resilient adolescents in a time of great stress where anxiety and mental health disorders are epidemic.In these times of great stress for our kids, resilience is not a given. The epidemic of mental health disorders in adolescents has made parenting even more challenging, but parents can still have an enormous impact on the health and well-being of their child. This book offers parents the tools they need to navigate this tumultuous time of change and create a continuous deep connection with their child. With covered topics such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, behavioral issues, and addiction, parents will learn how they can recognize mental health disorders as well as obtain compassionate and practical advice on how to address these issues if they occur.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Psychology, Family, Education, Childrens

285 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how informative this book is. As much as I try to gather knowledge about mental health and the various emotional issues teens have to go through through fiction, nothing compares to a well-researched and well-written non-fiction when it comes to such important, complex topics dealing with such an important age group.

I really liked how detailed and systematic the content is. Just reading the introduction gives you a wealth of ideas and information about the subject we are dealing with here.

It's just not about anxiety we are talking about. The book deals with certain other aspects to what might have led to such conditions and why it is more so in adolescents.

The information is scientific. It goes way back to the very beginning: the facts about adolescents, focusing on various aspects of their their development and the different stages of adolescence.

What I appreciate more is the detailed information on the chapter of gender and sexual identity.

Then the book dives into detailed discussion on anxiety and depression. No matter how we feel we have known enough on these topics, we never do. And this particular chapter gave me new information and insights that I was left in awe.

There's a whole chapter on ADHD, learning issues, social-developmental disorders which I feel is still being misunderstood by many.

The chapter on "Disordered eating and eating disorders" gave me so much to understand about these issues which I felt like was much needed. Adults misunderstand too much when it comes to eating disorders. High time we try to understand and stop focusing on harassing the young for it.

There's another chapter on drugs, alcohol and addiction. It gives you how you might possibly know if these things are being misused and how to prevent them.

And most importantly discussion on technology, social media, gaming and gambling! When we adults are addicted to these, how can we blame the teenagers? But it's not the dead-end. This chapter provides what we can do to prevent the possible mental health crisis resulting from their influence.

Bullying happens a lot in social media. Parents, teachers and guardians may find this hard to believe. Just read the chapter in this book to know how real and drastic it gets. And what we can do about it.

And ultimately, this book provides us with answers as we can do to know more about all these issues and what we can do as a family/friend/acquaintance.

You can also check out the relevant references given towards the end of the book.

Such a gem. I want a physical copy of this book as soon as possible. It would help a lot.

Thank you, author and Health Communications Inc EB, for the advance reading copy.

[Chrisanne]

Didn't finished. I wasn't the target audience for this book plus I was disappointed in the research(and lack thereof) with some topics.

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot

Great book. Thorough. A lot of different ways to look at things. I walked away with a new way of understanding my children.

[Laura]

It was in some ways to simple and like reading a textbook written for JH students. I listened to 2 hours via audio, and maybe it is a book. That is better read.

[SeaShore]

I'm also listening to her speech in Nov 2023 at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

[Bastione · Rating 2 out of 5]

All in all...VERY informative...but so dry I could hardly finish and I don't think I remember much of the information blast. I want to read a book from this woman about cultural changes that would conquer the anxiety epidemic! This wasn't it. I listened Erica Komisar interview on a podcast called, "Dad Saves America" and enjoyed it SO much. She was going in depth into the cause of different anxiety disorders and non-prescription ways to treat them. Including HDHD--which contrary to the name is not a "disorder"--means HDHD is not genetic. She talked about how ADHD is treated and/or sometimes cured in France because it is not genetic, but a stress/trauma response in the brain. Based on the wild numbers of so many anxiety disorders...I wanted to know more! Unfortunately, the book reads more like an encyclopedia for teachers who have one of each kind in their classroom and want to keep themselves briefly abreast of what each disability is and how it effects their kid. If your child had a specific disorder you would find yourself informed of treatment options and the prescribed mindset of how to deal with it. But.....you'd have to wade through 100 other disorders to find it.
This book was a huge disappointment to me.

[Valeriya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a must read for parents. I’m not a parent yet, but even I found it helpful in understanding why and how I turned out the way I did. I will definitely reread it once I have a child, but for now, it’ll be good to take lessons learned in chapter 11 to start working on myself.

I also enjoyed listening to a few chapters of the author’s other book as well, although I’m yet to finish it.

[Olivera Živojinović · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't read it fully, but I just can't. On one hand there is an enormous pressure on women to work and contribute financially to the family; on the other (e.g. this book) there is pressure that parents (khm, moms) have to dtay with kids for several years to prevent them from developing anxiety. Spoiler alert for the author: it is not always true and it is not a 1 to 1 function as you describe it in the book. Not gonna finish this onw