It is not unusual for children to experience negative emotions such as fear, disappointment, sadness, anxiety, anger, loss etc. Mild signs of anxiety, such as difficulty in sleeping or concentrating, have become common and can degenerate into mental health problems, children’s very resilient to symptoms notwithstanding. Once the mental illnesses set in, certain behavioural changes with observable symptoms ensue.

The prolonged, restrictive, and widespread nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors, has exacerbated the situation as the mental health of millions of children worldwide has been put at risk, with at least 14% forced to remain at home under nationwide public health orders – or recommendations –during the pandemic.

Consequences of mental health problems in children

Unattended mental health problems can disrupt children’s functioning at home, school and in the community. Parents and teachers should get equipped to detect and deal with early signs of mental health problems among children as they are the first to notice changes in a child’s emotions or behaviour.

Moreover, more screen time and COVID-19 pandemic impacts are associated with mental ill-health is associated. In fact, mental ill-health has led to increased recreational screen time, strained family relations or sedentary and physically inactive at-home lifestyles pose additional challenges. Parents must find ways to take care of their children’s mental health behavioural changes.

Closeness and support can offer parental solutions for their kids’ mental ill-health problems

7 parental solutions for kids’ mental ill-health behavioural symptoms

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Parental support is a way to solve kids’ mental ill-health problems. Photo by Emma Bauso from Pexels

How best in the Healthy Lifestyle and Wellness Living can parents provide solutions to their kids’ showing mental ill-health behavioural symptoms? Eduonwheels provides some detailed in-depth insightful analysis. Here we go:

1. Be happy with yourself (self-driven happiness)

One of the best ways parents can help their kids with mental ill-health is to be happy with themselves, in the first place. They must eliminate everything around them that makes them unhappy and takes their joy away as well as avoid discouraging activities with which they get involved in.

Being happy and self-care can make you and your family happy, and the happier you are the more productive you become.

2. Take care of yourself (Give yourself self-care)

Firstly, parents can best provide solutions to their kids’ mental ill-health behavioural symptoms by taking care of themselves. They will be in a better position to solve their children’s problems if they care about themselves.

Self-care during these times enables the parents and caregivers to be there for their children providing a stable, calm and soothing parenting style. This way, parents will also be able to better understand their children and help them feel reassured, relaxed and focused.

No doubt being parenting today is a daily challenge and full of struggles as parents are faced with the current COVID 19 realities, lack of job employment, high inflationary rates, and insecurity, among others. So, it takes purposeful commitment to care for oneself with the aim to be happy and keep your kids happy too.

Living healthy through eating healthy food, maintaining good personal hygiene, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, socializing, avoiding hard drugs and alcohol, and trying to do things you enjoy doing are some of the tips on self-care.

Other Eduonwheels’ related posts on Kids’ Mental, Physical and Social Health Education for Healthy Lifestyles and Wellness Living you might find interesting:

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The 4 ‘’superior global mental ability’’ that makes your kids outstanding

5 ways kids can perform well on mental & academic tests

7 COVID-19 mental health impacts on school children

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3. Ensure friendly relationship and interaction with your children

It is important to be calm and proactive in not just your conversations and interaction with your children at all childhood stages even throughout adolescence, and also in your interrelationship with them – check in with them to see how they are doing.

4. Provide the kids with needed support

Friendships and family support are strong stabilizing forces for children, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also disrupted them. Provide them with necessary and regular support when their emotions change regularly and you need to show them that’s okay.

Mild signs of anxiety, such as difficulty in sleeping or concentrating, have become common. But children are very resilient, and most will manage to cope with parents and peers’ support.

5. Engagement of young people in creative activities

Be it at school or at home, parents and caregivers can engage children, teenagers, and adolescents and in creative activities, such as playing and drawing, to help them express and communicate any negative feelings they may be experiencing in a safe and supportive environment. This helps children find positive ways to express difficult feelings such as anger, fear or sadness.

6. Parents’ management of their emotions

As children and teenagers often take their emotional cues from the key adults in their lives – including parents and teachers – it is important that adults manage their own emotions well and remain calm, listen to children’s concerns, speak kindly and reassure them with a positive outcome and not make situations appear hopeless and irredeemable.

7. Encourage kids and teens to express their feelings

Children, teenagers and adolescents should also be encouraged to talk about their feelings and reach out to a trusted friend or family member. Early intervention can prevent long term mental health consequences from this COVID-19 pandemic.

This blog content on ‘Healthy Lifestyles and Wellness Living: 7 best ways om how parents, caregivers and teachers can solve children’s mental ill-health problems’ is categorized under Children and Students’ Mental and Physical Health Education.

Our Children and Students’ Mental and Physical Health Education System is about creating and delivering impacting, and empowering problem-solving information towards enhancing the good and sustainable mental and physical health and ability in the children to our amiable readers for a dependable future – Eduonwheels.