Are You Concerned About A Child's Mental Health?

Unlike adults, children can’t always explain their daily stressors. Their stressors may be brought on by schoolwork, peer pressure, home life, COVID-19, bullying, or body changes.

Children can act out as part of their growing pains. However, understanding adolescent mental health shows that changes in behavior, eating, and sleeping habits can also be a sign of deeper issues.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, the brain does not mature until adolescents are in their mid-to-late 20s. During the teenage years, their brain is likely to change in response to environmental factors, and big life changes can act as triggers leading to mental health struggles.

“Our mental health is anything that we think about on a daily basis that causes us happiness, anxiety, or distress, and a lot of our children and adults don’t have the positive coping skills to deal with these emotions. This is the emotional roller coaster that we go on on a daily basis.” - Dr. Thelma Tennie, LMFT Certified Clinical Psychology, Healing Arts Institute of South Florida

To help children with everyday stressors, talk to them, sit down with their teacher to understand the situation better. Try stress coping tools as a family, like meditation and yoga, which may help children reduce stress. If symptoms persist, this would be the time to reach out to a mental health professional for guidance and support.