Be your children's best friend way to overcome depression
KOTA KINABALU: Parents should find ways to be their children’s best friends in order to be part of their mental health journey.
Parti Warisan Sabah Women chief Siti Aminah Jabarhan said that in the last decades, the Internet has become one of the most powerful forces of mankind.
“It gives us ultimate information access from any place in the world. But, at the same time, this availability creates digital information overload which our mind sometimes cannot cope with. This might lead to Internet-related depression.
“Apart from that, it is so obvious that our children as early as two years old are given gadgets for them to entertain themselves and also to communicate with their friends or cousins. As they grow older, their connections became wider, and it is often seen that they will compare themselves on social media. This might be another reason for depression.
“When these young people are having problems, they might turn to the social media asking for opinion, to know their self worth. Since they are so a ached to the social media, they never see other options,” she said.
Aminah said it is timely for parents to control their children's activities, especially those related to the internet.
She personally saw the trend of children and parents not talking while waiting for their orders in the restaurant, and even waiting for the Azan to ‘buka puasa’ because everyone is busy socialising on the social media.
“I personally think this has to be stopped, and parents should be the example by setting some rules when it comes to family bonding.
“We want to be our children's best friends so that we can monitor their behaviour.
“We must always tell our children to ask for help if they are depressed,” she said.
Commenting on the suicide of a 16year-old girl in Kuching a er posting a poll on her Instagram account, Aminah said it should not happen to anyone's children.
“Let us look at our own children and tell them that they should seek help if they have suicide thought. Be open about this issue because it is real. It is happening in our society.
“Also tell our children that abe ing suicide is wrong, and it is a crime in Malaysia.
“We need to raise awareness about mental health from home, and make sure they understand that asking for help is a good move,” she added.