Mental Health Awareness Surrounding Children

Children can struggle with mental health concerns in childhood and youth. It is important to recognize that children are also able to struggle with mental health difficulties. Knowing the signs can help with early intervention and getting your child help if they need it. For this post we will focus specifically on some general signs that you may notice or be worried about. Then go into some very generalized specifics with some disorders children may be developing or struggling with currently. 

What mental illness may present as in children 

There are many struggles that children can end up dealing with. There are some common ones being; anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, eating disorders and other mood disorders. I will go into more detail how these can show up or persist for children. 

Signs and symptoms to be aware of for general downfall in mental well-being of children

When noticing differences in children's behaviours it is important to be aware of the way that they normally act in comparison to sudden or gradual changes. If your child is normally doing really well in school without any outside factors affecting their school work and it suddenly or gradually starts plummeting. This may be a sign of the beginning of some struggling that may be happening for a child. Changes in the way that a child conducts themselves around you and others can also be signs that there is something greater going on. Behaviourally for example experiencing angry outbursts, isolating more from family and friends, having mood swings that have no correlation to growth mood swings unrelated to normal development, worrying more frequently than normal, and acting rebellious or acting out. 

Examples of some disorders that might show up for children 

Anxiety can come out in different forms for children. Being aware that once this surpasses a normal amount is when to consider looking into if your child may be suffering from anxiety. Some examples:

• When to consider looking into if this is more than frequent anxieties that we all experience is when it becomes too persistent. 

•  Noticing avoidance in things they generally were not previously, seeing changes in their behaviour out in public, seeming more nervous and not wanting to interact with others as per usual, and overall showing more of anxious tendencies when doing everyday tasks that they did not before or if this anxiety is lasting longer and longer. 

• There are many different anxieties and disorders that a child could experience although noticing and addressing these behaviours early on may be the best way to support your child when they are struggling. 

ADHD in children is a more common disorder when it comes to children and struggling. ADHD has three types: those being ADHD impulsive/hyperactive, ADHD inattentive and then the combination of both impulsive/hyperactivity and inattentive behaviours. Being aware of the signs that your child might have ADHD can be very helpful when supporting your child. There are couple of main symptoms that are aline with ADHD in children those being: 

• Having hard time following instructions 

• Losing items a lot of times such as toys and homework 

• Seeing that they are very easily distracted when doing something they enjoy 

• Not able to sit still and is impatient large amounts of times 

• Child seems to need to get information in at inappropriate timings when someone else is talking or blurts out information 

Being able to recognize when these behaviours become hindering to a child and their ability to function easily is highly important. Also being aware that ADHD may show up differently between boys and girls. Not brushing off if not all of these things are present but your child is still struggling or even letting you know they are having a hard time. 

Depression in children can look similar to adults although looking out for these symptoms can be helpful. Children may experience some of these symptoms in their emotions:

• Angry, fearful, helpless, hopeless, lonely, unhappy, guilty or reject 

• This without any certain origin or cause specifically 

Children may experience these symptoms physically and behaviourally: 

• Having abnormal headaches or aches and pains that have no explanation 

• Crying easily or excessively, withdrawal from normal activities they enjoyed

• Children may overreact or have student outburst of emotions that are unwarranted that cause worry

Children may experience these symptoms in the way they are thinking: 

• This could be things such as low self-esteem

• Children might blame themselves for things 

• Such as taking situations where and talking negative about multiple different situations that may not seem that negative from your perspective as a parent

Signs and symptoms to be aware of for general downfall in mental well-being of children

When noticing differences in children's behaviours it is important to be aware of the way that they normally act in comparison to sudden or gradual changes. If your child is normally doing really well in school without any outside factors affecting their school work and it suddenly or gradually starts plummeting. This may be a sign of the beginning of some struggling that may be happening for a child. Changes in the way that a child conducts themselves around you and others can also be signs that there is something greater going on. This could be behaviourally for example getting angry outbursts, isolating more from family and friends, having mood swings that have no correlation to growth (period wise try to find the right word for this), worrying more frequently than normal, and acting rebellious or acting out. Making sure not to overlook these types of behaviours when they are frequent and more regular than usual. 

Ways to help a child who is struggling 

Make sure that you are taking the time to listen to what the child is telling if they are able to explain it to you. Being aware of how frequent the symptoms are coming up for your child and seeing if it is a one off or if there is a pattern of these behaviours. Being able to take the time to fully listen to your child no questions asked and when or if you do have questions letting them answer one at a time. Not pressuring for information if they don’t feel comfortable answering questions. Keeping the questions to a minimum and not overwhelming them. Around 2-3 questions that are most pressing for you. Finding the support that they may need in school or outside of school. Also making sure that they are aware that you are there for them no matter the circumstances. 

Resources: 

https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/child-and-youth-mental-health-signs-and-symptoms/ 

https://cmha.ca/brochure/children-youth-and-anxiety/ 

https://cmha.bc.ca/documents/attention-deficithyperactivity-disorder-in-children-and-youth/ 

https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/children-youth-and-depression/