Regardless of what your kids school might look like right now, I think this article provides some interesting tips on how you can do the things you can control to support kids mental health. Or anyone’s mental health really. “It may feel like a stark choice between mental or physical health. But as a family…
Not every tip you read will be appropriate for every person. People with anxiety are different than people dealing with depression, are different that people dealing with Bipolar are different than people dealing with a myriad of other issues, and even within all people with anxiety, they are all individuals. There is no one-size-fits-all advice here, other than to open the lines of communication, and ask how you can be a good friend.
In the end, isn’t that what being a good friend to anyone is? Trying to understand how you can be helpful and supportive in their life? It’s no different here.
But, these are a good place to start.
I also want to point out that this sense of being enough, having an internal sense of self and worth, is an important part of keeping children safe. Kids constantly on the lookout for external validation, are easier targets for grooming and abuse.
How would you develop this sense of self in yourself? I have some ideas, but I want to hear from all of you too.
#TraffickingTruths: Realities of child sex trafficking! Mental Health Apps: Beneficial or Harmful? Recognizing and easing the physical symptoms of anxiety Self-Care to Lower Anxiety When Things Aren’t OK With a Child’s Mental Health Former Jehovah’s Witness elders call for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse Bless the People Who Stuck Around After My Mental Illness…
You should read the whole article, Dr. Jeglic does a good job describing the issue, what we do know about female perpetrators and what we don’t know. Mostly we don’t know because of this: “When most people envision a sex offender, they do not picture a woman. While the majority of sex offenders are indeed…
On one hand, I think we could eliminate a lot of the stigma around depression, anxiety, PTSD and ADHD if we understood them to be fairly common, and normal responses to abnormal events.
On the other though, I’m concerned that trying to explain away something that can be as debilitating as depression can be could lead to an increase in people not taking it seriously. Which could lead to people not getting help as needed for it, and being blamed for not just dealing with it, etc.
I also worry that if we define mental health conditions very strictly, we’ll be increasing the stigma of those with other disorders like bipolar, or schizophrenia.
