Looking After Your Child’s Mental Health

Looking After Your Child’s Mental Health

You may not think of children suffering from mental illness in the same way as teens and adults do, but actually, it is a serious issue which should be addressed. Like any other person, children have active minds and can inherit mental disorders from their parents. It isn’t always as obvious that your child has an issue until it becomes very extreme, which is why it is hard to know how to deal with it.

Today we are going to talk through a few different ways to keep your child healthy and happy, as well as proactively treating mental illness in youngsters.

Occupy The Senses

For a child, the mind needs to be occupied and kept busy as much as physically possible. Children work best when their senses are challenged, so consider adding activities which they can have fun with into your routine.

To occupy their eyes, you could set up the TV or a tablet device with TV shows or their favourite films to watch as you travel or cook at home. For their mind and ears, why not buy an instrument and take them to lessons to keep the mind ticking. You could bring them into the kitchen with you and teach them some basic recipes, and of course let them lick the spoon afterwards.

All of these things will take the focus away from internal issues and help your children to cope.

Practice Meditation

Meditation may seem like an adult concept, but it works just the same for children. Being able to focus the mind and clear any thoughts is a skill which helps to relieve stress and reset your body. You can install meditation apps onto your child’s device and sit with them every morning. It may seem odd at first, but it will make a big difference to your child’s mental health.

Take Them To Therapy

In some more extreme cases, it is advisable to seek the help of a professional. Consider enrolling your child in an OT practice for kids. Occupational Therapy is a form of therapy which aims to help the patient cope with mental illness proactively and to use purposeful activity to achieve a relaxed and satisfied state of mind. For a child, this could involve activities to promote learning and help them overcome negative feelings. It can be a great way to bring your child out of their shell and help them to integrate into society in a better way.

Invest In Their Hobbies

As a child, you may have had several different hobbies. From sports such as soccer and tennis to painting or playing an instrument. Sometimes the best method of helping someone fight through mental illness is to allow them to do what they love. If playing the piano or writing songs helps your child come to terms with their issues and become more confident, it is worth investing your time and money on them. You may even find that they make friends and come out of it much happier.



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