If you ask most parents what they want for their children as they grow and develop, they will say they want them to be happy and healthy. Yet these two word and states of being aren’t always easy to achieve when there are mental health issues to take into account. In fact, when there are mental health issues, no matter what they are or even if they have a particular name or not, can often mean that happiness and healthiness are much harder to achieve.
With that in mind, perhaps what parents should be asking is how they can strengthen their child’s mental health so that happiness and health are much more likely. Here are some of the ways this can be done.
Encourage Talking
Sometimes a child’s mental health can suffer because they are worried about something or they have certain feelings but they don’t feel they can talk to anyone about them. Make sure your child knows that they are free to talk about anything and everything.
You can do this from a very early age by showing the child that it’s good to talk, and by talking yourself. Communication may not ‘cure’ mental health disorders, but it can certainly help. This is why it can often be a good idea to get an expert diagnosis and specialist support, including schizophrenia family support from LAT Specialists, if you are concerned.
Put Yourself In Their Shoes
If you think there might be something going on with your child’s mental health, the best thing you can do – apart from loving them unconditionally – is to put yourself in their shoes. Think about what they’re experiencing and how they might be handling things. In this way, you’re much less likely to get angry and more likely to be understanding, which will help the entire situation become much less stressful.
Once you know just what’s happening with your child, you can work towards strengthening those areas that they might be having problems with. The child will know that you are doing what you can to understand them, and you will know whether or not you need to give the child additional support or even find a doctor or therapist to help them.
Encourage Creativity
Throughout history, many people have found that any kind of creative endeavour is good for mental health. It is calming, relaxing, and it puts the child – or adult – directly in the moment. All they need to think about is the task at hand, and any other worries can be put to one side and ignored or forgotten about, even if it’s only for a short while. This is called mindfulness, and ‘being in the moment’, and it’s a great way to strengthen mental health.
Art comes in many different forms, and could include painting, sculpting, colouring, making models, knitting, designing a board game, baking and decorating a cake, photography, and much more. Being creative is a fun way to strengthen mental health, and there is no need for the child to be particularly ‘good’ at what they are doing as long as they are having fun.
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