One of the wisest quotes on parenting and child relationships is “The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” — Peggy O’Mara”
This is a quote that can be related to describing parenthood and maintaining their children’s emotional well-being.
The unrelenting pressure that many parents feel as they deal with the competing demands of family, home, and their career itself.
Find out why your mental health is way more important to manage the emotional well-being of your child and make it a priority in your life.
This is because youth mental health means the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and social well-being of children and adolescents. This encompasses their ability to cope with life’s challenges, realize their potential, and contribute to their community.
Mental health issues are not exclusive to adults; children and teenagers frequently experience emotional struggles like anxiety, stress, and depression. These are the causes of factors like early abusive experiences, non-supportive relationships, and parentification and traumas in early childhood. Exclusive intervention of parents and caregivers can prevent the symptoms and contribute to their academic performance, social relationships, and overall quality of life.
Let’s learn more about how these factors affect the lives of children and how parents can see the emotional development of a child.
Prevalence And Recognition Of Mental Health Concerns
Mental health challenges often begin early in life. Half, about 50% of all people who experience mental health disorders in their later life start experiencing symptoms by age 14.
The median age of onset for anxiety disorders is particularly early, at 6 years of age. Gathered data from screenings shows that mental health concerns are highly preventable among older youth, with 83% of 11- to 17-year-olds screening positive or at risk for anxiety. 91% of screening tests show that the results of positive or at-risk individuals show depression.
It is necessary to recognize the early signs of emotional struggle for intervention. Common symptoms for various other mental health conditions include:
- Anhedonia
- Insomnia
- Irritability and restlessness
- Brain fog (Problems with concentration, memory, or the ability to think clearly)
- Chronic depression
- Social anxiety
- Behavioral change
If symptoms are prolonged or intense, they may signal a deeper issue. Severe indicators that require immediate action due to potential suicide risk include drastic personality change, obsession with death, giving away belongings for a definite reason, or indirect or direct threats of suicide.
Foundations of Emotional Well-being- Attachment, Resilience, and Parenting
The development of strong mental health is heavily influenced by foundational experiences that are primarily related to attachment and the capacity for resilience.
1. The Significance Of Attachment
Attachment is a reciprocal emotional connection that develops between an infant and their primary caregiver or mother, and the periods span within the first three years of life. This basic bond influences the child’s physical, neurological, cognitive, and psychological development. Thus, it establishes the basis for trust, or mistrust, and shapes future relationships throughout life.
2. Secure Attachment
Children with secure attachment generally feel confident that their caregivers will provide comfort and relief. It makes them so confident to explore and learn freely in later years.
Secure attachments support the development of mental processes that are necessary for emotional regulation. The reduction of fear, the development of empathy, self-understanding, and overall emotional resilience.
3. Insecure Attachment
Insecure attachment and disorder can occur due to traumatic disruption or interference with the caregiver-child bond during early life. It often results from inconsistent, insensitive, inadequate, abusive, or frightening care.
Insecure attachment impacts children’s ability to regulate emotions and drives them to a lack of trust and self-worth, anger, and a need for control.
Attachment issues are seen on a continuum, with secure attachment at one end and attachment disorder (including avoidant, hesitant, and disorganized types) at the extreme end.
Without treatment, attachment disorders do not get better. So, early intervention is critical.
4. Resilience
Resilience is defined as the ability to tolerate and resist serious hardships in life. A child’s ability to be resilient is essential to reducing the effects of adversity or toxic stress on early development. This practice is critical for lifelong health and well-being.
It is necessary for children to develop resilience to any situation as an effective strategy for threats or positive stress. The capacity can be strengthened at any age for supportive, positive experiences.
The Impact Of Parenting Styles
Parenting styles, which are defined as a collection of parental attitudes, behaviors, and emotions, play an important role in children’s development, especially regarding socio-emotional skills.
Parenting styles are recognized as a multidimensional concept that combines different degrees of authoritative and permissive approaches.
A study identified different parenting style profiles and their connection to children’s social behaviors, which are;
1. Highly authoritative style
This style combines high levels of authoritative practices (guidance, warmth, responsiveness, and demanding) with the lowest levels of authoritarian practices. This style is the least connected to internalizing or externalizing problems in children.
2. Non-Authoritative Styles
Non-authoritative styles or permissive parenting (high responsiveness, low demandingness) and authoritative parenting (low responsiveness, high demandingness) are often positively correlated with externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems in children.
Generally, the authoritative parenting styles promoted social and academic skills. It is associated with reduced tendencies towards externalizing (aggressive/dysfunctional conduct) and internalizing (negative emotions like anxiety and depression) problems. This style supports a high ability to regulate behaviors.
Common Signs of Emotional Distress
Parents need to observe the emotional shifts of the child if they are prolonged or intense because these can signal deeper issues. There are some common issues that many health issues include:
- Problems with concentration, study, memory, and the ability to think clearly.
- Continuous sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, or feeling worthless.
- Loss of interest in activities that the child used to love.
- Irritability or restlessness.
- Sleep pattern or appetite changes.
- Avoidance of social interactions or withdrawing from family or friends’ gatherings.
- Frequent physical complaints, such as headaches or stomachaches, without a clear medical cause.
- Anger issues.
- Onset of new behaviors or rituals that are repeated.
Supportive Strategies And Interventions
The most effective way to support a child’s mental health is through open, honest communication. It can happen with the use of therapeutic approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy.
1. Communication And Validation
- Open communication between parents and their child can create a safe space for them to express feelings and protect them from further worries.
- There is a need for parents to give full attention to the child, avoid interruption, and offer an immediate solution. You can use non-verbal cues like nodding, glaring, or coming to the eye level of a child to listen to what they want to convey.
- You can encourage the child to express feelings by talking, playing, drawing, or writing down things that they are feeling. Try to understand the cause and effect of those particular feelings and their chain reaction. When a child knows that you understand that, it gives them a feeling of being safe and allows them to explore and manage emotions.
2. Therapeutic Interventions (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective intervention for depression, teaching people how to change their thoughts and behaviors to feel happy.
Evidence-based guided self-management tools based on CBT include:
- Mood Tracking: This involves accurately naming feelings, beyond just giving bad or good, and recording moods along with the situation that caused them. Tracking moods helps to identify patterns and triggers, which give clues about the use of other coping skills.
- Making Time For Fun: This method is for enjoyable activities to counteract the low motivation and withdrawal that are often associated with depression. Active coping skills are increased by tracking moods before and after the activity to see which ones improve mood the most.
- Relaxation Skills: Techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery help to relax the body and mind. It reduces stress and promotes feelings of calm and well-being.
Taking Professional Help
Caring for a child with a mental illness is demanding and requires parents to manage their own well-being to prevent burnout. However, it requires professional help, along with support from parents and the child’s mental capabilities, to balance things out.
If you find that your child is feeling consistent fatigue, burnout, sadness, and there are some physical symptoms, do consult with a professional psychiatrist. Seeking professional counseling or family therapy can help manage symptoms and bring about lasting changes in the child’s behavior for years to come.
Brainpower Wellness Institute gives you everything in one place. We have expert psychiatrists who can deal with any type of mental disorder and can give you reliable treatment options. However, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution. So we can give you multiple treatment options that will be personalized according to your choice.
