Understanding Mental Health in Children and Young People

Here are several red flags that your child could be suffering from a mental health issue:

• Significant changes in personality, behaviour, or mood
• Alterations in eating patterns
• Reduction in weight
• Inability to concentrate
• Alterations in academic performance
• Skipping or not attending school
• Grief that doesn’t go away for at least two weeks
• Removing oneself from or avoiding social situations
• Temper tantrums or excessive irritation
• Inability to fall asleep
• Often having headaches or stomach-aches
• Uncontrollable conduct that may be detrimental
• Injuring oneself or discussing self-harm
• Speaking about suicide or death

See your child’s healthcare professional if you have concerns about your child’s mental health. Explain the actions that worry you. See whether anybody else who looks after your child—teacher, close friends, family, or other caregivers—has seen any changes in your child’s behaviour. Give this information to the professional treating your child.

Children’s mental health disorders are identified and managed in accordance with their symptoms, signs, and how the illness impacts their day-to-day activities. Your doctor may suggest that your child be seen by a specialist, such as a psychiatric nurse, clinical social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other mental health care professional, in order to establish a diagnosis. The assessment may consist of:

• Full medical examination
• Medical history
• Conversation with parents
• Talking with and observing the child or young person
• History of physical and mental health in the family
• Reviewing symptoms and talking to parents about general concerns
• A timeline of the developmental stages
• Past experiences with mental or bodily trauma
• Educational background
• Questionnaires and standardised tests for parents and children

Since normal development differs and young children may struggle to understand or articulate their experiences, diagnosing mental illness in children can be a time-consuming process. Over time, the medical professional treating your kid may adjust or clarify a diagnosis.

For children or young people with mental health issues, common therapy options include:

• Psychotherapy. Talk therapy and behaviour therapy are additional names for psychotherapy. Speaking with a psychologist or other mental health expert about psychotherapy is one strategy to treat mental health issues. Psychotherapy for young children may involve games or playtime, as well as discussion about the experiences that arise from playing. Children and teenagers acquire new behaviours and coping mechanisms, as well as how to talk about and respond to their thoughts and feelings, throughout psychotherapy.
• Medication. As part of the treatment plan, your child’s physician or mental health specialist may prescribe a prescription, such as a stimulant, antidepressant, anxiety medicine, antipsychotic, or mood stabiliser. Your child’s doctor will go over the advantages, disadvantages, and dangers of medication therapies.

In order to support your child’s treatment plan, you will be crucial. To take care of your child and yourself:

• Highlight your child’s accomplishments and talents.
• Participate in parent education programmes; these are especially beneficial for parents whose children suffer from mental illness.
• Collaborate with your child’s school to get the help they need.
• Think about family counselling where each member is seen as a collaborator in the course of therapy.
• Look for methods to unwind and enjoy yourself with your child.
• Examine stress-reduction strategies to enable you to react composedly.
• See your child’s mental health provider for guidance on how to deal with challenging behaviour and how to react to your child.