Mind it: Here's how parents can help foster good mental health practices in kids

Dr Sanjay Wazir

Seven-year-old Ananya was a happy child until a few months back. She had friends, did well in school, and got along with his siblings and parents at home. Of late, however, her mother noticed that she had become distant and irritable. She didn’t seem to enjoy the things she loved, such as basketball, drawing, or just hanging out at the kitchen table. Parents are generally the first to notice behavioural changes in children. And thankfully, mental health awareness is rising steadily across the world. More people are talking about it, acknowledging it, and seeking professional help as and when they feel the need. Children, as early as possible, need to learn good mental health practices. Conducive environment goes a long in keeping them from mental issues. At the centre of that environment are their parents — what they listen and see at home determine how they will deal with the world outside. An infant's emotions may be affected by the emotional and physical health of the caregiver. If parents suffer from depression and anxiety, it could impair the physical and emotional health of their child too.

Risk Factors

Young children respond to and process emotional experiences and traumatic events in ways that are very different from adults and older children. Consequently, diagnosis in early childhood can be more difficult than it is in adults. Common risk factors for child's behavioural and mental health problems include:

• Prenatal risk factors such as developmental trauma, alcohol exposure, drug exposure
• Genetic risk factors such as congenital developmental disability
• Chronic medical disability
• Social factors such as poverty, exposure to violence
• Family risk factors such as parental depression, social isolation, separation or divorce
• Skills deficiency such as lack of parenting knowledge, social skills deficit, school failure or learning problem or disability

What can parents do

Create a sense of belongingness: Feeling connected and welcome is essential to children's positive adjustment, self-identification, and sense of trust in others and themselves. Building strong, positive relationships among students, school staff, and parents is important to promoting mental wellness.

Promote resilience: Adversity is part of life and being resilient is important for overcoming challenges. Connectedness, competence, helping others, and successfully facing difficult situations can foster resilience.

Develop competence: Children need to know that they can overcome challenges and accomplish goals. Achieving academic success and developing individual talents and interests help children feel competent and deal with stress. Social competence is also important. Staying connected to friends and loved ones enhance mental wellness.

Ensure positive and safe school environment: Promote positive behaviour such as respect, responsibility and kindness and discourage bullying and harassment. Teach children to work together to stand up to a bully, encourage them to reach out to lonely or excluded peers, celebrate acts of kindness, and reinforce the availability of adult support.

Teach and reinforce positive behaviour and decision-making: Provide consistent expectations and support. Teaching children social skills, problem solving, and conflict resolution enhance mental health. “Catch” them being successful. Positive feedback validates and reinforces behaviour or accomplishments that are valued by others.

Encourage helping others: Children need to know that they can make a difference. Pro-social behaviour build self-esteem, foster connectedness, reinforce personal responsibility, and present opportunities for positive recognition. Helping others and getting involved reinforce being part of the community.

Encourage good physical health: Good physical health supports good mental health. Healthy eating habits, regular exercise and adequate sleep protect kids against the stress of tough situations. Regular exercise also decreases negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression.

Educate staff, parents and students on symptoms of and help for mental health problems. Information helps break down the stigma surrounding mental health and enables adults and students understand when to seek help. School psychologists, counsellors, and social workers can provide a continuum of mental health services for students ranging from universal mental wellness promotion to staff and parent training, identification and assessment, early interventions, individual and group counselling, crisis intervention, and referral for community services.

One in four people experience a mental health condition over the course of their lives. Half of these conditions begin before the age of 14. So, we need to be alert about the overall emotional well-being of our children. Have conversations with your children — it's the best way to foster engagement, increase your child's self-awareness, and to figure out what is going on with your child. Besides, parents need to find a way to calm down their own anxieties, fears and depression. Parents are role models for young children, so their emotional and mental state will leave an indelible impression on their children.

— The writer is paediatrician, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Gurugram

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