Mental health has been a highlighted topic of everyone’s life for a while now. What’s more, it is trendy and ‘mental health’ being in trend is helping a lot of people to come out of their shells and speak about what they went through, what they are going through, etc. Being fit physically is not enough for a healthy lifestyle, you need good mental health as well. Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social well-being. It affects how we think, act or feel and that affects relationships, daily life, and physical health as well. The mentally healthy people will tend to be more optimistic and try to look for solutions instead of dwelling on problems. It is required to focus on mental health of children because the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1 in 5 children experience a mental disorder. The mental health condition of a child can have a huge impact on their academics and behavior.
Here are some ways to help you boost and improve the mental health of children:
- Playtime is Important too:
Being inside the same 4 walls can get boring, even for children. So, motivating your children to go play outside with friends can help in boosting the mental health of a child. Children should have a sport he or she loves to play for regular doses of adrenaline. When children go outside, Vitamin D increases which is an important nutrient in their growth. Indoor games like puzzles, board games, etc. would not be a waste of time as these as well will be a huge help to activate brain cell growth. Playtime, indoor or outdoor, helps the children reduce their stress level and makes them physically and mentally fit!
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- Building Trust:
Earning the trust of someone can be a challenging task to do. Not only does it require patience but also so much effort and consistency. Every parent’s relationship with their child plays a very important role in a child’s mental health. To have a good relationship, building trust is the first step. Parents can establish trust by creating a sense of safety and security like for example, parents can start being there for the child when he or she is sick or needs help or is sad, anxious, etc.
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- Develop Self Esteem:
Developing self-esteem can turn out to be the boost that mental health needed all along. For developing self esteem, parents should first praise their children regarding their abilities, strong points and then, teach them how to increase or improve self esteem. Giving opportunities for independence like letting them make small decisions or allowing them to go and play outside with their friends can help them develop self esteem which helps to promote mental health.
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- Encouraging Creativity:
Creativity is always unexpected. Children are known to be more creative than adults and better at expressing themselves through what they truly enjoy the most. It can be anything like games, sports, art, writing, dance, horticulture, photography, music, acting or role playing, etc. Encouraging children to be themselves teaches them how to learn to cope with difficult feelings and relationships.
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- Beware of Children’s overall Actions and Behavior:
Children are better at showing what they are feeling through actions rather than words. If a child is behaving badly and acting out or getting in trouble more often, the parents should understand that either there is a problem that’s bothering the child and it needs to be solved or the child needs emotional support to cope and move forward. If a child is unable to express his or her feelings, it can have an impact on their mental health.
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Personality Development has always been the savior when it comes to improving, strengthening pre-existing skills, or learning new skills. Personality development for kids can help them know themselves better which will lead them to boost their self-esteem and help them to understand what they are passionate about at a very young age. Our personality development course helps children in improving both mental and physical state of children. It will teach one how to deal with stressful situations, how to gain a positive point of view, and how to make good decisions.
Mental illness is spreading like a wildfire recently and it has become more than obvious that people do need external help to be mentally healthy. The help can be provided by a parent, a friend, a therapist, etc. The mental health of children is crucial for their future and so, a parent needs to know what their kid is going through and improve their mental health by trying on given methods.