Supporting your child’s mental health is one of the best things you can do for them. It helps them when dealing with challenging situations, like this past year with the pandemic. It also helps them deal with stressors in their daily lives. About 20% of children experience a mental disorder each year. It’s time to put your children’s mental health at higher importance, and you can take steps to keep your child’s mental health positive and stable.
Here are nine things to do to support your children’s mental health.
1. Create a Safe and Welcoming Environment
First, create a safe environment in your home for your children. They need a place to come home to every day to release their stress and feel themselves. Feeling safe is critical to their mental health and development as it buffers negative emotions. Promote behaviours like respect and kindness. Safety in the home reduces health problems, and it improves your children’s future emotional outcomes.
2. Encourage Exercise and Healthy Eating
Staying active and eating good foods can improve mental health. The mind and the body are interconnected, so what your children do to keep their bodies healthy is keeping their minds healthy, too. Exercise helps release endorphins that make you feel good and reduce stress. When your children eat meals packed with nutrients, their brains can get better fuel to function better.
3. Allow Time for Free Play
Children need free playtime in their lives. It’s an essential part of their overall health and development. Even though your kids need structure, they also need freedom. Heading to a playground can help them release stress, feel happier and even focus better. Plus, parks generally have green space. In one study, those exposed to green space were less likely to have symptoms of depression. Get your kids outside for free play every day!
4. Model Healthy Coping Techniques
Another great way to support your children’s mental health is to model healthy coping techniques for your own mental health. Before you can begin helping your child, you have to help yourself. Help them how to deal with their emotions positively. Teach them activities like deep breathing, using stress balls, colouring or getting outside to relieve stress and think about their feelings.
5. Set a Routine
Kids need structure and routine in their lives. Providing a set routine allows your child to know what’s expected of them, and they can feel at ease when they wake up in the morning or come home from school every day. Uncertainties can lead to stress and anxiety in a child’s life, so keep them updated on what’s going on for the day.
6. Keep the Communication Lines Open
Your children need to know that they can communicate with you whenever they’re having an issue. Let them know that they can approach you with their thoughts, feelings and concerns. When they do come to you, make sure that you are attentive and listen to their needs. Provide them with love and support. Know that you are there to listen without judgment. If they come to you with a question, be open and honest with them as well.
7. Validate Their Feelings
It’s essential to validate your child’s feelings. Let them show their emotions. It’s human nature to grieve, get frustrated, angry or feel whatever other emotion. Communicate with them so you can understand their experience. Restate what your child is saying. Validation is about trying to see yourself in your child’s shoes and honouring what they’re saying and feeling. Their experience is just as real as anyone else’s.
8. Limit Their Intake of News
If you’ve turned on the news lately, you know that a lot is going on in this world. It may be scary for you as a parent, and it can certainly be scary for your children, especially if they can’t understand what’s going on when they watch the news. Limit their intake of news, and limit their time on media. Social media can quickly take away a child’s self-esteem, and too much screen time can disconnect them from you, contributing to poor mental health.
9. Seek Professional Help If Needed
Finally, seek professional help if needed. Become aware of the signs of poor mental health in children. These may include persistent sadness, difficulty sleeping, change of eating habits, changes in mood or behaviour and withdrawal from activities. Catching these signs early on and seeking a counsellor or your doctor can help keep your child safe and get them on the path to recovery.