By Mandy Dahms, RN, Registered Nurse Care Manager
May is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month. Children can have mental health challenges just as adults can. As a matter of fact, over 2 million children in Michigan experience mental health challenges such as ADHD, anxiety and depression. In order to decrease this number, it is very important to provide our children with whatever there is possible to promote good mental health. The following are some simple suggestions to promote the mental health of a child:
- Make sure that your child gets regular exercise, balanced meals, plenty of sleep and has time for relaxation.
- Talk about your child’s troubles with them. Let your child know that their concerns are important to you.
- Be a role model. Talk about your own feelings when possible, apologize, and don’t express anger with violence.
- Provide your children with unconditional love. The love, security, and acceptance trio are the foundation to children’s good mental health.
- Praise your children for the little and big things they do for the first time and/or well, encourage them to make the next steps and help them explore and learn about new things.
- Surround your child with supportive teachers and care takers.
- Bring fun and playfulness into your routines. Families tend to stick to routines and forget to have fun. If your child seems stressed or overwhelmed by the routine change it up; for example, every Friday night your family goes to the library – change it up and go to a movie, play games or simply find something different to do.
Children can live happy and productive lives that are filled with love, harmony, and great mental health, but it will take us adults to help them in this direction!
