With the increasing awareness and concerns regarding mental health all around the world, it is imperative to look around and help people in need of your support. If you are a parent then your children are the first ones that deserve your support and attention. Keeping your teen’s mental health in check should be of utmost priority to you.
It is probable that during your teen years you were also in dire need of help. But your mental health and wellness were ignored by your parents. Now as your role has reversed, you need to take the reigns and protect your child from all the calamities you have been through.
Mental health issues in teens:
Teen mental health is of paramount concern. Mental disorders are debilitating and often emerge in adolescence. Parents tend to keep an eye on their teen’s activity but not on the teen’s mental health. This is the age that your child goes through all sorts of hormonal, behavioral, social, and mental changes.
The transition from a kid to an adult needs to be smooth and should be monitored by a concerned adult, which will help you identify a potential problem and devise a solution.
Ways to improve your teen’s mental health
A few tips, if effectively applied can help you maintain or improve your child’s mental health.
1. Look for the signs
According to WHO, an estimated 10-20% of adolescents globally experience mental health conditions, yet these remain undiagnosed and untreated. Your child can be one of them, but you can help them.
First, you need to look for the signs of any mental illness they might be showing. If your teen likes staying alone or cries a lot or avoids conversations, you need to look into it seriously.
You also need to understand that children divert from their previously normal behavior when they hit adolescence. So an average change in behavior is nothing to worry about. But if you do notice something odd, avoid pestering your child and try to look into matters more subtly.
2. Make them feel comfortable
It is a norm in our society to make your children obey you by being strict and acting hard to reach. You need to go against the odds to be your child’s go-to person. Make them feel comfortable around you.
All these might be signs of respect but can create vast differences and space between you and your child. If your children are not comfortable around you they are less likely to involve you in the conflicts they go through daily.
3. Promote healthy communication with your children
Indulge in open communication with your teenagers. Talk to them, make them feel understood, be available for them and lastly be friends with them. Teach them to respect you but not to fear you.
Check in with your teen. Ask them how their day went. what did they study? What are their friends up to? It would invite them to join in the conversation and they will eventually tell you all. Eventually, they will start trusting you with their problems.
4. Support them through thick and thin
If your child is seeking your help in any matter, go help them in the blink of an eye. You need to realize that if your child has openly asked for help he/she must be in dire need of it. As children in their teens tend to keep all the issues to themselves.
Work with them in setting up new routines, works and goals. This way their daily practices will entertain them and will keep you in the circle too.
5. Maintain yourself first
Whether you believe it or not children look up to their parents the most. Keeping a healthy and stable relationship between you and your partner will affect your child’s brain positively. Couples who fight or are not on good terms tend to scar their children for life.
Even if you are a single parent, your positive outlook towards life will make your children do the same. Your negative tendencies are likely to be translated into your teen’s behavior, so try and do the contrary.
Did you know? Parental conflict has been linked to aggression, depression, eating disorders, and anxiety in children.
6. Normalize seeking professional help
Mental health has remained a taboo since the advent of the human population. Until recently people didn’t even recognize it as a mental condition. Today people are more aware of mental health and it’s a lot easier to seek professional help than ever before.
Wrap-up:
If you think that your teen has serious issues with depression, anxiety, or any other medical condition, you should consult a psychologist. Proper therapy coupled with your efforts can make your child blossom.
Book an appointment now, with the top psychologists in Pakistan to seek professional help. You can call the Marham helpline at 0311-1222398 or visit our website and mobile app.
FAQs
1. What could be your best advice to a teenager who is coping with stress?
Take a break from trying to make the circumstances better. Plan some stress-relieving activities that include things like listening to music, chatting with a friend, writing, drawing, and playing with a pet. Plus you may create a group of friends that can support you in overcoming obstacles.
2. What is the most common mental illness in youth?
The most prevalent mental disorders in youth are depression, ADHD, anxiety issues, and behaviour issues.
3. Does mental illness come from the mother or father?
Both hereditary and environmental factors contribute to mental diseases. There is not one specific gene that gets tripped while going from parents to the infant and triggers a mental illness.
