Talking to Your Teens about Mental Health

Tips for Talking About Mental Health With Your Child

When children and teens are struggling with their mental health, it can affect how they behave, learn and deal with their emotions. When behavioral and mental health issues are diagnosed during childhood, children receive effective treatment and learn important coping mechanisms that they can continue to rely on into adulthood.

As parents, it is important to talk with your children and teens about their mental health to ensure that they can get the support they need. However, starting that conversation can seem challenging and even awkward at first. Thankfully, these tips can help open that dialogue.

Pick a Quiet Place to Talk

The first step in having this serious conversation with your child is to pick a place to talk. Ideally, this will be a space where you can talk freely without any external distractions such as noise or other people. This can help to foster feelings of comfort for both you and your child.

Talk About Your Personal Experiences

If you’ve experienced anxiety, depression or other mental health issues, try opening up and talking about some of your personal experiences with mental illness. Talk about therapy, medications you may take, or even the benefits of journaling and meditation.

This level of transparency and vulnerability can show your child that it’s normal to struggle with your mental health every now and then and what can be done to address it.

Be a Positive Example

Children and teens tend to mimic the behaviors of the people in their immediate environment, making it essential for you to set a positive example for them to follow. When it comes to topics surrounding mental health, open communication and expressing your emotions, try to set a positive example.

Using healthy coping mechanisms as a part of your everyday routine will encourage your children to do the same to manage their emotions.

Primary and Specialty Care in Ohio

The Southwest General Medical Group, Inc. includes both primary care and specialty care physicians who are committed to providing patients with high-quality medical care. Our team of board-certified specialists and skilled physicians work to raise the bar for excellence in health care service for our community. To learn more about our primary and specialty care services or schedule an appointment, visit our website.