GET A HEAD START
HOW DO WE KNOW WHETHER OUR CHILD IS EXPERIENCING A MENTAL ILLNESS?
The government’s recent announcement it will fund The National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy will be welcome news for many given it is reported that half of children with mental health issues aren’t getting the help they need, when they need it.
It is aimed at children 12 and under, including their families as government figures indicate about 14 per cent of children aged 4-11 have a mental illness.
Clearly such funding is badly needed but what is happening that such young children are experiencing poor mental health and distress?
While pondering that and reflecting on some of the conversations I have had with parents, teens and adolescents, it appears to be a complex and multifaceted problem because there can be so many underlying problems to be explored and unravelled, so any warning signs may be missed, dismissed, or go undiagnosed.
How do we know whether our child is experiencing a mental illness including, stress and anxiety or is overly nervous, outside what might be considered normal?
Perhaps through a change in behaviour, yet there are so many dynamic behavioural shifts as we grow and develop through childhood, the thought that it could be stress or anxiety may be overlooked or diminished along the way.
What is normal as part of modern life and what is cause for concern?
Certainly, in the past 18 months, Covid has fundamentally changed the way that most of us live and has created major changes in our routines, uncertainty about income and future employment, keeping up with homeschooling, isolation from friends and classmates and escalated stress and anxiety levels even in those who didn’t experience it already.
If it has affected the parent/carer, the child has also felt it, in addition to whatever else they may be worried about.
Other possibilities include underlying physical problems such as a brain chemical imbalance, a history of mental illness in the child’s immediate circle, the primary parent/ carer being anxious and stressed, an unsafe emotional and/or physical environment, experiencing a traumatic experience at any time throughout childhood including prebirth which impacts the parent/carer and/or child, lack of appropriate care (love, food, support), change, loss etc.
In addition, as awareness develops, it’s around the age of 4 we start to compare ourselves to others and that may well test our confidence in ourselves and ability to cope with feeling that someone is “better” than us, leaving us feeling “less than” and potentially leading to competition or withdrawal, either of which could have an impact on mental health if taken to extremes.
For older children, it could be the pressure (internal or external) they feel from being at school and sensing they need to work harder and achieve more and more just to keep up, but without any strategy to cope.
It could be any or a combination and as I wrote above, it’s complex and multifaceted.
There has been much written in relation to a child’s external environment having a major impact on their internal environment, such as physical and mental health and overall development.
What happens to and around us, particularly when very young, shapes our view of the world and ability to cope from that point on, so a negative or traumatic experience can be a significant contributing factor and therefore a risk indicator for poor mental health later in life.
If you have any concerns about your child’s mental health or your own, you should seek advice and support from a suitably qualified doctor or specialist.