What is mental health in children?
Mental health in children refers to a child’s social and emotional wellbeing. It is imperative for any child to be mentally healthy during their early childhood years so that they are able to achieve developmental and emotional milestone while navigating their way appropriately with their interpersonal skills and social skills. It also supports children to be able to cope through difficult situations and help them problem solve.
It is proven that mentally healthy children have positive qualify of life and demonstrate the ability to function well within their environments and contribute to becoming high achievers in most aspects of their life.
What mental health in children looks like
Children with good mental health feel loved, safe and secure in their environments. They are also able to exhibit love and empathy towards others. They often feel happy and positive about themselves and situations most of the time.
They’re kind to themselves and others during tough times or when things don’t go the way they expect. This means they feel OK about trying new or challenging things, being able to adapt to changes, new routines and transitions.
They enjoy life, learn effectively, get along well with family and friends, and often show persistence when learning new things.
Healthy children can often manage sad, worrying or angry feelings and bounce back from tough times while navigating and exploring different emotions and their impacts.
Unfortunately, some children are unable to experience and demonstrate these abilities due to their poor mental health and display poor social and emotional skills.
Identifying the warning signs of poor mental health indicators (5-11)
– Not acting like themselves
– Changes in sleeping or eating – Not sleeping well (nightmares) or having a change in their sleeping patterns (e.g. more or less than usual).
– Avoiding people or social situations they used to enjoy – Withdrawal (from activities or socialising with friends or family).
– More emotional than usual: anger, worry, sadness and crying
– They aren’t performing as well at school as they used to
– Lacking energy or motivation to do everyday tasks
– Self-harming behaviours
– Feeling hopeless about the future
– They tell you that they’re anxious, depressed, or struggling
– Ongoing guilt or negative feelings.
– Ongoing worry or anxiety that interferes with your child’s ability to go to school and to be confident with others.
– Ongoing refusal to follow rules at home or school.
– Attention, memory and concentration difficulties.
– Difficulty making and maintaining friendships.
– Obsessions or compulsions that interfere with everyday life.
– Playing in a forceful, violent or destructive way.
– Bullying other children or pets.
– Consistently not wanting to eat (food refusal).
– Having toileting difficulties, including bed wetting.
– Frequent physical complaints such as headaches or tummy aches.
Risks for mental health problems
– Psychological: Stress, loss, neglect, abuse, bullying, trauma.
– Social: Breakups, friends or family conflict, moving school or home.
– Biological: Genetics, family history.
– Physical: Diet low in nutrients, poor quality or lack of sleep, low levels of exercise, medical, pain issues or injuries, etc
Protective factors
– Physical: Nutrient-rich diet, enough and good quality sleep, regular exercise.
– Psychological: Coping strategies, stress management strategies, strategies to develop resilience, interests and hobbies.
– Social: Connections and relationships with family and friends; in fact, good quality relationships are one of the best predictors of good mental health and mental illness recovery.
How you can help at home
– Talk about emotions with your child and encourage them to recognise and label their emotions. You can also let your child know that it’s natural to have all sorts of feelings. For example, ‘It looks like you’re really frustrated that your toy won’t work. I can understand that’.
– Role-model a positive outlook for your child – for example, ‘Running all the way around the oval looks hard, but I think I can do it if I take it slow and steady’, or ‘I’m disappointed that my cake didn’t cook properly, but that’s OK – I’ll try it again another time’.
– Support your child when something is bothering them. For example, if your child is having trouble with friends at school, you could give your child plenty of hugs and reassure them that you’re there for them. You can also collaborate with the teacher to create a plan to address the situation.
– Help your child learn to manage small worries so they don’t become big problems. You can do this by gently encouraging your child to do things they’re anxious about instead of avoiding scary situations. For example, ‘Have you thought about trying out for the school choir this year? You really enjoy singing’.
– Positive Affirmations are positively loaded phrases, or statements that are used to challenge unhelpful or negative thoughts and proven to assist both children and adults in shifting their mindset to adopt healthier and positive way of thinking.
Here are a few places to start to seek professional support:
– Maternal Health/GPs: Can run tests, diagnose, refer to other professionals and discuss treatment options – this is important, because mental health symptoms can have a physical cause, like a nutrient deficiency.
– Children Helpline counsellors: Can talk to your child 24/7 – counselling can help by reducing stress, addressing lifestyle factors that increase risk, and teaching new skills/strategies (which can build new brain pathways).
– Psychologists: Can diagnose, teach strategies and provide mental health support.
– Your child’s kindergarten/early learning centre: Can help identify any early signs of distress. They can also provide support through structured routines, nurturing environments, and social-emotional learning activities, promoting resilience and emotional regulation. Additionally, educators can refer families to external support services if needed, ensuring early intervention when mental health concerns arise.
Helpful Links
– Call a parenting hotline to get free parenting advice.
– Call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 for mental health support.
– Check Head to Health for online programs, forums and information on specific mental health topics.
– Call Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277 or Family Relationships Online on 1800 050 321 to talk to government-funded relationship counsellors.
– Call the National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) if there are problems in your relationship like family violence, or you feel you might hurt your child.
References
My child struggles with mental health | Kids Helpline
Good mental health for children: 3-8 years | Raising Children Network
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