Children Mental Health Matters.

Ways to support a child who is dealing with mental illness.

Be there to listen

Ask your child how they're doing on a regular basis to assist them become accustomed to talking about their emotions and to let them know that you're always ready to listen. 

Encourage them when they face challenges.

Keep an eye on your child's emotions and behaviour, and make an effort to support them in overcoming obstacles. Although dealing with difficult behaviour may not always be simple, make an effort to understand their feelings and the reasons behind it.

Continue to be active in their lives

Express curiosity about their life and priorities. It makes it simpler for you to identify issues and provide support, in addition to assisting them in valuing who they are.

Promote their areas of interest

Encourage and assist your youngster in pursuing their hobbies. Learning new things, being creative or energetic, and working in a team all foster connections and improve mental health.

Consider what they have to say carefully.

It makes people feel appreciated to listen to and value what they have to say. Think about how you may assist them in resolving their feelings in healthy ways.

Establish uplifting routines

Make an effort to provide structure to your regular schedule, particularly for exercise and a nutritious diet. Establishing a regular time for bedtime and wake-up is crucial for ensuring a restful night's sleep.

Taking care of your own psychological well-being

It might be difficult to parent or care for a child or young person at times. Taking care of your mental health is crucial because it will enable you to support others while also taking care of yourself.

Recognise and accept yourself when you're depressed or feeling stressed. Having difficulties or dealing with mental health issues yourself does not equate to being a poor parent or caretaker.

During trying times, it's quite normal to feel terrified, anxious, or helpless, and these emotions are nothing to be embarrassed of.

Tell someone you trust how you're feeling, if at all possible. Perhaps you have relatives, friends, or a coworker who could help you or give you a break?

What causes Mental Health and their symptoms?

What causes Mental Health?

A broad spectrum of mental health illnesses that impact your mood, thoughts, and behaviour are collectively referred to as mental illness, often known as mental health disorders. Anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, depression, and addictive behaviours are a few examples of mental illnesses.

Many people occasionally experience mental health issues. But persistent symptoms that impair your ability to perform and cause frequent stress turn a mental health concern into a mental disorder.

A mental disease can lead to misery and interfere with day-to-day functioning, including relationships, job, and education. Most of the time, talk therapy (psychotherapy) combined with medication can treat symptoms. 

SYMPTOMS

                                                  

Depending on the condition, the environment, and other variables, mental illness symptoms can take many different forms. Emotions, ideas, and behaviours can all be impacted by mental disease symptoms.

1. Depressed or hopeless

2. Disorganised thoughts or a diminished capacity for focus

3. severe feelings of shame or excessive worries or fears

4. severe swings in mood from highs to lows

5. Elimination from social circles and pursuits

6. severe exhaustion, lack of energy, or issues slumbering

7. Delusions, paranoia, or disassociation from reality

8. incapacity to handle stress or day-to-day issues

9. Difficulty comprehending and connecting with people and circumstances

issues relating to drug or alcohol use

10. significant dietary modifications

11. excessive animosity, violence, or anger

12. Suicidal thoughts

Sometimes physical issues, such as headaches, backaches, stomachaches, or other inexplicable aches and pains, are signs of a mental health illness.

CAUSES

It is generally believed that a multitude of hereditary and environmental variables contribute to mental illnesses:

Attributes inherited. People with mental illnesses are more likely to have blood relations who also suffer from mental illnesses. A mental disease may be triggered by your circumstances or brought on by certain genes.

Exposure to the environment prior to birth. Mental disease has occasionally been associated to prenatal exposure to inflammatory disorders, chemicals, alcohol, narcotics, and environmental stressors.

Mental chemistry. Natural brain chemicals called neurotransmitters are responsible for sending messages from your brain and body to other areas. Depression and other emotional disorders result from changes in the function of nerve receptors and nerve systems caused by impairments in the brain networks involving these substances.

HOW TO SUPPORT PEOPLE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH MENTAL HEALTH?

You might be caring for someone with a physical health problem, a mental health problem, or both. For mental health problems, you may face slightly different or additional challenges.

You believe you are not a big assistance.

You can feel irritated that you're not 'enough' to satisfy someone, or that you can't help them feel better. However, mental health issues can impact everyone, just like physical health issues can. Nobody can stop someone else from experiencing mental health issues.

You are unable to comprehend their situation.

It might be challenging to comprehend the feeling of a mental health illness if you have never dealt with one. Ask them to try to explain, keeping in mind that descriptions aren't always straightforward. You two could peruse our blogs, brief films, and mental health resources. These tools could assist them in finding the correct words to describe it.

Concerned that you're doing inappropriately

It's difficult to judge what actions are optimal or how much attention to devote. You might be concerned that they are relying too much on you. You may also believe that your efforts are ultimately ineffective.

Try the following if you're concerned about what other people may think:

Tell your story and discuss your experience. This has the potential to alter attitudes and increase understanding among people. Learn more about creating a blog post for Mind here.

Act now by launching a Mind-based campaign. See our campaigns for specifics on how you may contribute to our efforts to combat stigma.

Display Mind's data to people. They may learn more about mental health as a result of this. You have the option to show them the webpage or save the data in a PDF file for printing. A portion of our content is accessible in printed form.