Sharing – A third of parents are embarrassed to seek mental health support for their children
This is kind of embarrassing to be honest. All the work we all do to raise awareness and eliminate the stigma of getting help, and there’s been almost no change in the results of this survey of parents?
“Almost a third (29%) of parents admit they would feel embarrassed if their child wanted counselling, and 34% feel other parents would judge them, according to new research published by Place2Be to coincide with Children’s Mental Health Week.
The findings of the survey of 1029 parents of children aged 5 – 18 years reveal that despite greater awareness and successful anti-stigma campaigns over the past six years, there is still work to be done. Attitudes among parents remain largely unchanged since the first Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015, when 30% of parents reported they would be embarrassed if their child wanted counselling.”
We are going nowhere with this. We are still looking at kids with mental health struggles as a product of bad parents, and discouraging parents from getting their kids the help they need at a young age. Then, without treatment, they just grow up into adults with worsening symptoms who need ever more help.
Is this really the cycle we want to be in? This makes no sense. It’s not about raising awareness anymore, I suspect it’s about putting an end to passing judgment on every single thing parents do, or don’t do. We’ve got to stop that. We’re only hurting more and more kids.
