5 Proven Ways to Support Children Mental Health
When it comes to child health, we often perceive it as physical health. Are children eating the right food or staying active is what parents are most concerned about forgetting about their mental health.
Why is children’s mental health important?
Parents are less likely to have a proactive approach to their child’s mental health the way they consider their physical health. However, both physical and mental health is integral to their overall well-being of the child. Mental health takes in the cognitive development, emotional and behavioural well-being of children.
Understanding the importance of children mental health
COVID-19 pandemic has increased the mental health challenges not only for adults but also affecting children’s mental health to a greater extent. Children also experience different emotions based on their experiences and lifestyle activities. Emotions like fear, anxiety, sadness and frustration could lead to mental health problems in children.
Signs of poor mental health in children
Mental health problems come with added challenges when it comes to children because children are less likely to figure it out on their own. However, many signs and symptoms can reveal mental health problems in children, including;
● Irritated and hopeless behavior
● Isolated behavior
● Altered eating and sleeping patterns
● Poor attention and focus
● Lack of interest in fun-time activates
● Continuously exhausted child and lack of energy
● Self-harming behavior of children
I remember my friend’s daughter who was a school going child had sudden behavioral changes. With a disturbed sleep pattern and recurrent gastrointestinal infections, her health was continuously deteriorating. They visited many child specialists of Peshawar. After a few visits finally a doctor diagnosed the child with anxiety and began treating her.
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How to improve children’s mental health?
Here are a few ways that can help to improve your children health including;
1- Make them embrace their emotions
No matter how badly you want to protect your child from pain and sadness but denying and belittling their emotions can be harmful. Rather than distracting your child to make them feel better can be harmful in the long-run. The very first and probably the most important thing you can do to promote the mental health of your children is by letting them embrace their emotions.
2- Right Communication is the key!
We often hear that communication is the key but you need to understand that the right communication is the key. It is completely understandable that as a parent you want to protect your child but not rightly communicating with them could backfire. Talk to them about the current event or whatever they want to talk about but remember to keep a positive approach. While talking to them, give them reasons to believe in optimism and support their emotional well-being.
3- Introduce them to mindfulness
Being mindful of your physical and emotional wellbeing is what can improve a child’s mental health to a greater extent. Mindfulness can help children with anxiety and stress and also improve their decision-making ability. You can teach your child to slow down and focus on their surroundings. Think about what experiences are teaching you before you head to the next thing. Being aware of mindfulness can surely help your children to bear with their stress and anxiety.
Children are copy cats and they often tend to mimic their adults. If you want your children to enjoy better mental health, ensure that your mental health is sound, said a renowned physician from Children Medical Center of Peshawar during a webinar on children health. IF you will keep suffering from mental health issues, your children will never be able to get out of it.
5- Talk to them about mental health
Unknowingness is a blessing but not all the time especially when it comes to mental health. Talk to your child and explain to them what mental health is. Introduce them to their emotions to help them to deal with their traumas and stress.
Bottom Line!
A child’s well-being is dependent both on its mental and physical health and children’s mental health issues are more common than we expect them to be. You can rely on all the above-mentioned ways if you notice that your child is suffering from mental health troubles. However, if the problem doesn’t seem to get resolved, it is recommended to seek out help from a psychologist.