Flusterclux With Lynn Lyons: For Parents Who Worry How Parents Can Accidentally Strengthen Their Kids' Worry & Depression
Dec 19, 2025
In this discussion, the hosts explore how parents can unintentionally enhance their children's anxiety by 'doing the disorder.' Lynn highlights the dangers of over-planning routines, excessive reassurance, and distraction tactics that keep kids from tackling their worries. She warns against medicalizing physical symptoms and emphasizes the importance of consistent, action-oriented therapy. The conversation concludes with practical steps to help kids engage in real-world activities, fostering resilience against worry and depression.
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Distraction Tricks Are Temporary Fixes
- Sour candy and similar tricks mainly act as short distractions and rely heavily on placebo effects.
- Lynn Lyons warns these "elimination strategies" risk teaching kids to rely on external fixes instead of changing their relationship to worry.
Pull Back On Certainty And Analysis
- Avoid over-planning and giving certainty to anxiety; keep routines practical not rigid.
- Stop excessive analysis and reassurance that lets anxiety run conversations instead of prompting action.
Reduce Accommodations Stepwise
- Identify and list family accommodations that support the worry, then remove a couple to practice change.
- Be empathic but consistent and expect initial upset when you stop following worry's demands.