5 Techniques for Being Aware of Your Child’s Mental Health

Greeting’s Readers!

Picture this: your child has just come home from school; their nose is a little red and they cough slightly. “Oh no!” you think to yourself, they might have caught a cold. You immediately go to give them either medicine or schedule a doctor’s appointment. You see an issue with their physical health and respond accordingly, it’s something you know how to deal with.

Now let’s go to a different scenario: your child comes home from school, they aren’t smiling but when you ask them how school went, they respond “fine” and go to their room. You have a concern but aren’t sure whether it’s valid because you don’t see anything wrong. 

These two scenarios are meant to demonstrate how mental health can be a little more difficult to be aware of than physical health as it’s more subtle in the ways it can affect youth. So, what are ways to be more aware of your child’s mental health? Let’s look at 5 techniques that may help:

  • Focus on your child’s usual characteristics and habits. Simple ways to focus on their characteristics and habits are; knowing their daily school routine, how they communicate with others, how they typically dress, and their normal body language. The more you know how they usually behave, the easier it will be to notice if something might be affecting them. 

  • Be more attentive to their interests, likes, and relationships with people outside of the home. Start learning more about your child’s friends, teachers, and other individuals they know as these people also have an impact on your child’s mental health.

  • Be a role model! Practice communication exercises where you both openly discuss thoughts and feelings. Help identify any potential triggers your child might have at home, school, or any location your child usually visits.

  • Openly discuss mental health and show them that mental health is just as important as physical health. Encourage them to speak when they are not feeling okay even if they are ‘physically’ fine.

  • Teach them skills on how to identify when they feel they need to reach out if they are having a difficult day or feel that their mental health has been affected by something.

These simple techniques are just the start of the plethora of knowledge that anyone can find when it comes to mental health awareness! Another way to improve mental health awareness is visiting online resources that are free, including the following: Center of Disease Control , American Psychological Association , and the NCTSN.  These online websites offer free articles, campaigns, and even toolkits to give you more skills to raise awareness of children’s mental health. 

Here’s how YOU can be a Prevention Partner:

  • Use the techniques provided above! Practicing these preventative measures and more can help ensure a better quality of life for your youth and family. 

  • Continue visiting our website and our weekly blogs in this new year as we continue to share more prevention blogs like this one! 

  • Visit our Care Coalition social media pages every Friday for Parenting Tips that can help improve overall health and wellbeing for you and your family! Find us on Instagram at @CareCoalitionAZ and on Facebook at Care Coalition!