Children's Mental Health

Anxiety can be present in your child’s life in a multitude of ways: preparing for a test, learning to drive, etc. , so it can be difficult to distinguish whether your child’s anxiety is normal part of growing up and having more responsibilities, or if it’s becoming a serious struggle.

When a child struggles with socializing, branching out into their school community, stress, and anxiety, it can be hard to know what can help. Recent studies show that a furry friend may be just the right thing. Whether they walk on four legs with a silky coat, fly around on colorful wings, or run on a wheel with tiny feet, welcoming a new friend to the family can make a child come out of their shell.

As a parent, you want what is best for your children, and you will always put their needs before your own, but that can be difficult when you’re trying to manage your own “high levels of chronic stress, anxiety, and depression.

Dealing with negative emotions is a learned exercise, one that needs to be practiced. The video “I had a black dog, his name was depression” allows children to learn about mental illness is an easy and low-stress setting. “Just like a real dog, it needs to be embraced, understood, taught new tricks, and ultimately brought to heel.”3 The video opens up the world of mental health for them in a way that is accessible. It can be a visual aid in understanding that they are not alone in feeling this way and that it does get better with help.

“13 Reasons Why” is a show created by Netflix depicting a high-school student who commits suicide and leaves behind a set of pre-recorded cassette tapes that describe her painful experiences with peer pressure, bullying, and sexual assault. Jay Asher, the author of the book released in 2007, shared in a recent interview, “When we do or say things, we can never know exactly how another person is going to take it because we don’t know what they’ve already dealt with.”

Many people think Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) shows itself in non-intrusive behaviors like washing their hands constantly or turning lights on and off a certain number of times.

You can’t avoid the headlines about sexual assault, these days. Many women and men are coming forward to make their abuse known. But sexual assault is just as likely to happen to a child or adolescent.

Social media is a large part of our society today, but is the everyday use of social platforms harming our young kids and teens? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, families should be aware of the potential negative effects of social media. Here are six key points about how social media may be impacting your child’s mental health.  

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, some “40 million people aged 18 or older in the United States, 18 percent of the population, will suffer from an anxiety disorder each year.”

Clinical depression is a very common condition. In fact, “approximately one in five Americans experience an episode in their lifetime. However, despite its prevalence, only about 50 percent of people who suffer from depression actually receive treatment.”