Mental health used
to be taboo, but thankfully, nowadays it’s more open for discussion. But while
we’re all more aware of it, are we doing enough to help and empower young
people who may be experiencing problems?
September 19th
marks Youth Mental Health Day (YMHD), an initiative to raise awareness and
understanding around mental wellbeing and to encourage young people to live
happy, healthy lives.
Studies by the
charity behind YMHD, Stem
4, have found
that six in ten young people experience mental health difficulties, such as low
mood, anxiety and self-harm. Worryingly, one-sixth of five to sixteen-year-olds
have diagnosable mental health conditions.
In this quick
read, we look at ways you can support your children, family members or friends
with their mental wellbeing.
Meaningful relationships
This year, YMHD’s
theme is about meaningful connections and encourages young people to try and
make healthy, strong relationships rather than fleeting, superficial
friendships.
Talk to young
people about the people in their lives, who they feel comfortable talking to,
who they trust and so on. Encouraging positive connections can reduce feelings
of loneliness and isolation.
What are unhealthy
relationships?
Teaching young
people about when to walk away from some friendships is a good way to make them
more self-aware and to boost their emotional health. Unfortunately, some relationships
can become draining or toxic, and we need to help teenagers and children
understand this. Distancing themselves from people who no longer make them feel
happy or put pressure on them is a skill that they can fall back on throughout
their lives.
Talk about
kindness and how to remove themselves from such relationships in a way that
doesn’t cause stress or arguments.
How to ask for help
We all need help
at some stage in our lives and it’s important for young people to understand
that this is not a weakness. Talk about situations when they feel like they
need help or someone to listen to them to reduce the stigma around mental
health.
Social media
As much as we all
enjoy a nose around social media, for young teenagers who have never known life
without it, their online world can cause stress and anxiety. Social media is a
minefield where teens are exposed to things such as heavily filtered images, inappropriate
or explicit content, online bullying, trolls and much more.
Make them aware
that social media is what people want you to see rather than reality. Encourage
them to take a break from being online, ask to see their social media profiles
and posts. Be open about social media and its pitfalls while understanding how
important it is to their generation.
Let’s all try to make a difference for our children.
Share your tips below for supporting young people with their mental health.