Influence your teenager’s mental well-being: I do not think any of us as parents would want to have a child or a family member who is mentally unwell.
We do not wish to face such a situation and if by unfortunate turn off events, we must face we would give everything to ensure that our loved one comes out of such a situation.
A mental illness can suck the life out of and individual and the people who are around the person and the ones that care for them.
The World Health Organization defines mental wellbeing as ‘a state in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.’
Topics Covered in this Blog
- 10 reasons why you need to influence your teenager’s mental well-being
- Mental health problems that teenagers face wen left unchecked
- 4 Factors contribute to your child mental health
- 20 ways parents can influence your teenager’s mental well-being
- Important Note to parents on when to seek help
- Conclusion
- Disclaimer
10 reasons why you need to influence your teenager’s mental well-being
You need to influence your teenager’s mental well-being because when your teenager has good mental health, they can reap the following benefits that help them flourish in life…
- Good mental health makes your child to enjoy life more.
- They can face and deal with problems more efficiently.
- Your child with good mental health can get involved in all curriculum and extra curriculum activity.
- They can manage their emotions in a healthy way.
- They can deal and cope with stress better. And face challenges of life with the right attitude.
- Good mental health leads to good physical health.
- Teen with good mental health usually have good relations with family and friends.
- Have a good balance between hobbies and academics, participate in activities that interest them
- Have a positive outlook of life and hope for good future.
- They make positive contribution to their environment and society.
Mental health is as important as physical health of your child. Mental health is an important part of your child over all wellbeing. It is important for social, physical, and emotional well well-being of teen.
Adolescence is crucial period for developing and maintaining social and emotional habits that are important for mental well-being.
So, you must take care and influence your teenager’s mental well-being w.r.t social, physical, psychological, and emotional habits. As they contribute a lot in teen overall mental health.
Mental health problems that teenagers face wen left unchecked
I have listed below some common mental help problems that teenagers face if their mental well-being is not taken care of or attended to on time.
- Anxiety and worry
- Anger and Depression
- Self-harm or Indulgence in violence
- Stress
- Eating disorder
- Troubled relationships
- Truancy or refusal to go to school
- Uncontrollable Mood swings
- Feeling of helplessness and low motivation
To be able to influence your teenager’s mental well-being. You must be aware of the problem’s teenagers face. You can read in detail about most of these topics by clicking on this link -> Parenting Challenges Faced While Raising Teens.
4 Factors contribute to your child mental health
Here I will discuss some factors that contribute to the wellbeing of your teenager. And how you can help and influence your teenager’s mental well-being.
- Social well-being of your teen
- Emotional well-being of your teen
- Physical well-being of your teen
- Psychological well-being of your teen
Social well-being of your teen
Social well-being is the central part of your teen overall health. It is the ability of your teen to communicate and make good relations with others.
In fact, we can say social well-being is the ability of your teen to build a good network of friends to overcome loneliness. Social well-being is about your teen social stability.
Many aspects of mental illness are influenced by social factors of your teen life. Social well-being affects your child mental health. So, it`s important to take care of your child social well-being.
Social factors that affect mental health.
- Gender: Gender difference also influence mental illness. Drug, alcohol, and violence is most common in male teens, while depressed effects more common in female teens.
- Social class: social class of teens affects their social well-being.
- Home: Inadequate housing or homelessness is significant factor of mental illness in teens.
- Peer groups: Mental illness also affected by group of peers around teens.
- Family: Family factor contribute most in mental illness. Teens with good relationships with family less likely to mental illness then teens with broken family and relations.
- Socioeconomic status: The people with low socioeconomic status are more likely to face mental illness then people with high socioeconomic status.
What parents can do to influence social well-being of teen?
As a parent, you can influence your teenager’s mental well-being by the following ways…
- First, start from your relationship with your teen. When there is healthy relationship between child and parent the child become strong socially.
- Encourage them for good friendships.
- Teach them skills of communication. Guide them how they can effectively.
- Communicate with others.
- Talk about their future about opportunities they have around.
- Talk about their interest and guide them in proper way.
- If you can`t give your child a high-class environment it`s not a problem at all. Try to give them environment which is important for their health for their confidence.
- Try to give them environment of love and care while will bring about an environment which will develop social well-being in your teen.
- Work on giving a good social platform for your teenager. Take them with you when you participate in social activities.
- Enroll your teenager for classes that is of they interest. Tis will help them get exposure to new skills and mingle with people of the same interest.
You would be interested to read the following articles in relation to social well-being. Which will help you to influence your teenager’s mental well-being better.
- Type of friends
- Dating and relationship
- Peer pressures
Emotional well-being of your teen
Emotional well-being is the ability of your teen to cope with stress and ability to generate good emotions and feelings.
It determines your teens emotion of fear, anger, and trust.
Emotional well-being is all about how your teens think, how cope with stress and how your teens feel about themselves.
Emotional well-being overall affects your teen personality aspects.
Factors that affect emotional well being
- Self-esteem: Teens with good self-esteem strong emotionally as compared to teens with low self-esteem. Self-esteem is all about how your teens think about themselves or the sense of self-worth in your teens.
- Self-worth: Teens who feel loved and accepted by relations usually have strong mental health.
- Self Confidence: Encourage your teen about self-confidence, as it has main impact on your teen mental health. Teens with good confidence and positive energy usually live life more happily then teens with low confidence.
- Abuse: Abused teens mental health is at great risk. Abused teen experience mental illness very commonly. Abuse may be physical, verbal, sexual and psychological.
- Physical health: Physical health also relate to child emotional wellbeing. Teens with good physical health cope with difficulties in good way. While teens with low physical health also weak emotionally.
- Family relations: Your family relations also have great impact on your teen emotional well-being. When teen experiences loss, death, or separation of a loved one affect sound mental wellbeing.
- Self-identity: teenager who have low self-image and are aimless or confused with their own identity. They own definition of who they are. Teens who are not able to set their boundaries and call out their likes and dislikes. Are at risk of having mental wellbeing issues.
What parents can do for emotional well-being of teen?
Parents can contribute a lot in their teen emotional well-being. Emotional well-being is about your teens thinking about themselves. During their upbringing influence your teenager’s mental well-being with love, care, and trust. This can give them strong emotional value.
- Teach your teens how they can cope with difficult situations, how they can find solutions with their positive energy.
- Try to build a strong self-confidence, strong self-esteem, and self-worth in your teen. You can do this by giving love and healthy environment to your teens.
- Take care of their safety and security.
- Offer emotional support to your teen in difficult times.
- Take care of their physical health.
- Spend quality time with your teens and show them your care and love.
- Listen to your teens actively. Make sure they feel importance of their point of view.
You would be interested to read the following articles in relation to emotional well-being.
- Bullying
- Sexual abuse
- Depression
Physical well-being of your teen
Physical well-being also contributes to child mental health. Physical well-being is not about absence of disease.
Physical well-being is about healthy lifestyle. Good and health lifestyle improve your child physical well-being.
“A good body leads to a good mind’’
So, if you want your teen mentally strong start from its daily activities and habits, that contribute in physical well-being of a person.
Factors that can contribute in physical well-being of your teen.
- Environment: A good and healthy environment can affect your child physical well-being.
- Balanced diet: Balanced diet is a key to overall physical health of teen.
- Proper sleep: Proper sleep is necessary for teen physical health.
- Physical activities: Physical activities like exercise, gym and meditation can give good physical well-being to teens.
- Sunlight: Children who have reasonable exposure to sunlight than ones that are always indoor.
- Absence of Disease: Teens with no disease usually more fit then teens with any disease.
- Puberty and physical changes: The biological changes that your teen undergo affects their mental well-being.
- Bulling and abuse: If your child undergo violence due to bullying or any type of physical abuse be it by way of punishment or sexual in nature. It affects your teenager’s mental well-being.
What parents can do for physical well-being of teen?
By proper care of your child daily routines and habits, parents can play their role in teen over all physical health.
Physical well-being is not only important for your teen mental health but also important for your teen daily basis performances.
Ways you can influence your teenager’s mental well-being are…
- Physical activities are important for good health. Try to encourage your teen to do exercise and meditation.
- Encourage your kid to participate in sports.
- Ensure they get good rest and drink adequate water.
- Encourage them for balanced diet and proper sleep.
- Take care of their diet and sleeping pattern by yourself.
- Be vigilant and watch out for signs of abuse. Inspect bruises and cuts. Probe further till you are convinced with the answer.
- If you feel any problem in your child overall health, go for proper medical checkup.
- Try to build a healthy environment in your home.
You would be interested to read the following articles in relation to physical well-being.
- Risk taking behavior
- Mood Swing
- Rule Breaker
Psychological well-being of your teen
Psychological well-being consists of positive relation of your teen with others. Psychological well-being is about having a positive energy in your teens about life and meaning of life and general outlook of life.
Researches shows that teen with higher psychological well-being more likely to live healthier and successful life in future.
Psychological well-being has great impact on your teen mental health and overall, well-being.
Psychological well-being happens when your teen can balance both the highs and lows in life and move forward wiser.
Some of the factors that can affect Psychological well-being are…
- Abuse and violence in household: When teen comes from a family that have alcohol and abuse inside the household.
- Friends with mental illness: When close friends or influencers in your teen’s life are struggling with mental illness.
- Early responsibilities: When teens are entrusted with responsibilities early on in life before they are matured to handle it. Can be due to irresponsible parents or sickness that befell etc…
- Families with low moral values: Teens who come from families that are outcast by law or trouble with law. Have questionable value system or moral values.
What parents can do for teen psychological well-being?
- Encourage your teens to identify their real strengths.
- Encourage them to be more confident and capable about their goals.
- Motivate teens to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness can increase happiness and dedication and resilience.
- Encourage them to show gratitude about things and opportunities they have.
- Guide them about their future goals and positive thinking.
- Teach them good communication skills and how to maintain relationships in a balance way.
- Watch out for bad influences and remove teen from the environment. Or be there and protect them.
You would be interested to read the following articles in relation to psychological well-being to influence your teenager’s mental well-being better.
- Face Challenges
- Emotional Connection
- Sex, Drugs and Alcohol
20 ways parents can influence your teenager’s mental well-being
- Stay connected with your teen
- Be active participant in their life
- Be present and available and give them adequate guidance when needed.
- Respect your teens opinion and value their contributions.
- Accept and appreciate their individuality and uniqueness.
- Allow teen to make mistakes and learn from them. Do not be judgmental about it.
- Teach your kids resilience. Appreciate the effort they put not just the results.
- Give teens clear expectations and freedom to follow their own course.
- Encourage and set up a learning environment. Talk about issues and indulge in knowledge sharing.
- Create a family environment that is progressive in nature.
- Trust one another and make your home environment safe and secure.
- Keep yourself updated on problems faced by teenagers so you can spot signs when they arise.
- Take notice of any changes esp. when they are sudden
- Educate… Educate… Educate… Your teen on issues.
- Sound body leads to sound mind. So, take care of their physical health.
- Choose school that focuses on overall well-being of your child and not just academics.
- Have a loving relationship with your spouse.
- Set and be a good example.
- Motivate teen to participate in volunteer work that can bring a sense of gratitude and responsibility.
- Love your teen unconditionally.
Important Note to parents on when to seek help
Researches show that mental illness is very common in teens these days and often not addressed. But the sad reality of our society, we do not show any concern to mental health or catch them early.
But as a parent we should be aware of mental illness disorders in our teens. Mental health is as important as physical health of our teen.
We should show same concern to mental health as we show to physical health of our child.
During teenage years, teen go through hormonal changes, physical changes, and even social changes. It`s common for teen to stressed out for normal things.
But if teens become unable to perform their daily activities actively. Or if you feel sudden changes in your teen behavior, this might be a sign of mental illness and you need to reach out for help.
Similarly, if you find questionable bruise or hurt and subsequent behavior changes. Seek help.
If you feel your teenager is in risk of hurting themselves or danger to others. Rush immediately to get help.
Conclusion
With good awareness and when you take care of teen emotional well-being, physical well-being, emotional well-being and psychological well well-being we can prevent our teens from mental illness. And influence your teenager’s mental well-being.
Teens with good mental health live a happy and successful life. When you make a conscious effort and try to do things in advance. There are good chances that your teen will blossom to be a happy and content adult who will flourish in life.
God Bless!!…
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Disclaimer:
I like to make a disclaimer here. I am not a medical practitioner and more about me, my qualification and experience or that of my team you can read in About Us page.
However, I am a mother growing 3 kids. Am a concerned parent.
I like to share my knowledge with the hope that it will be help to someone somewhere and make a difference to a very worried parent.
I have written this article, basis my experience, my talk with experts in this line and research on this topic.
I like to emphasize that this is only for knowledge sharing and information purpose.
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Nothing contained in this site is or should be considered or used as a substitute for any medical or professional advice.
It should not also be a substitute for mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
If you are feeling concerned and worried about your kid. Your instinct tells you to be concerned.
As a parent to parent. I would say trust your instinct. No one knows better than you as a parent to your child. It is best to reach out to a qualified practitioner to address your concern.
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