5 Ways Parents Can Promote Their Children’s Mental Health
We’re in the middle of a health crisis — and no, I’m not talking about the Covid-19 pandemic.
The health crisis I want to talk about today is less well-known: the kids’ mental health.
Child and adolescent mental health has taken a big downturn in recent years. It’s so serious that international organizations have called it a global health crisis. Kids’ mental health was already worsening, even before the pandemic. But since 2020, it’s taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Over 70% of parents say that their children’s mental health has suffered during the pandemic. Mental health emergency room visits have increased up to 30%. A third of our teens report that they feel more depressed than usual.
Of course, a lot of change needs to happen on an organizational and policy level to be able to address this crisis fully. But you, as a parent, can have a huge effect on your children’s mental health, too.
Here are 6 ways that parents can promote their children’s mental health.
Be attuned and responsive to their needs
First, a healthy attachment, especially with you or another primary caregiver, will cultivate good mental health for your child well into adulthood. When your kids have a healthy attachment with you, they feel secure in your relationship. They feel free to explore the world around them while knowing that you’ll always be there to catch them if they fall. Who doesn’t want that kind of relationship with their kids?
One way to build a healthy attachment with your child is to be attuned to their needs. Exactly what this looks like will depend on the age and developmental stage of your child. For a 1-year-old, it could mean paying attention to their cries and responding to their physical needs. For a 17-year-old, it could look like noticing signs that they’re facing depression and opening a conversation with them about it.
2. Encourage healthy relationships
Not only does your child need a healthy relationship with you, but they also need to be able to build healthy relationships with other people in their life. Social support is one of the most important factors in promoting good overall mental well-being. Kids need friends!
When your children are young, provide ample opportunities for socialization, especially if you’ve decided to homeschool. Taking your child to local groups, activities, and parks is a great way to encourage them to play with other kids.
When your child starts to enter adolescence, they may start spending more time with their friends than they do with you. Know that this is healthy — at their developmental stage, teens are trying to figure out who they are outside of their role within the family. This often means that their peers start taking a bigger role in their lives.
Unless you have some serious concerns about who they’re spending time with, encourage your teen to create positive and close connections with their friends — even if that means they spend less time with you.
3. Provide structure
You’ve probably heard it before, but it can’t be said enough: Kids need structure. Structure could mean providing rules and limitations. It could also mean having daily schedules in place and following them to the degree that it’s possible.
Structure creates consistency, and consistency creates predictability. And all of these things help kids to feel emotionally safe. They know what’s coming, so there are no unpleasant surprises. This may mean fewer meltdowns and tantrums, which means that you’re less stressed, too.
Providing structure could be especially important for kids with mental health or neurodevelopmental disorders, like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. By being proactive, you can teach your child what to expect, and how they’re expected to behave. Structure at home could also help your child do better at school, which could improve their mental health outcomes as an adult.
4. Protect physical health
We don’t tend to think about physical health when we’re talking about mental health. But if I’ve learned anything in my years working in this field, it’s that it’s all interconnected. You can’t separate one aspect of health from another. The way we treat our bodies has a huge effect on how we feel mentally and emotionally.
Make sure your child is healthy all-around, in their body and in their mind. Make sure that they eat full, nourishing, and nutrient-rich meals. Encourage them to move their body in a way that feels good to them, whether that’s having a dance party with you or joining the football team. Protect their sleep — not getting enough restful sleep is one of the worst things for anyone’s mental health.
5. Take care of yourself
Lastly, good parents are happy parents. Does that mean that you should neglect your kids’ needs to do whatever you want everyday? Obviously not. What it means is that you sacrifice a lot to take care of your kids — but it’s important to take care of yourself, too.
When you’re burnt out or stressed, and you decide not to take care of yourself, you’re modeling that for your children. Kids pick up on more than we realize. They might learn from watching you that self-care isn’t important. That you don’t need to take care of yourself, even when you’re feeling bad. That others’ needs should always come before your own.
Not to mention that being under a lot of stress can also make you lose your patience more often with your kids.
Of course, stress as a parent is unavoidable to a certain extent. But this is just a gentle reminder to take care of yourself when you can. Even small moments of self-care, like eating a delicious and nourishing meal or even just taking 3 seconds to breathe mindfully, can make a big difference.
6. Get the Ari Meets Her Feelings 7-Day Journaling Guide for Kids
Another important thing you can do to help your child cultivate good mental health is to help them learn to recognize and cope with their feelings. When kids can notice, and talk about, how they’re feeling, then they’re less likely to keep those feelings bottled up. Bottled-up feelings usually turn into shame or resentment.
My printable 7-day journaling guide for kids can help your child learn how to identify and express their feelings in a healthy way. And it’s FREE for a limited time. Download yours today!
