Early intervention in poor mental health is critical if we are to break the cycle of poor mental health in adolescence leading to detrimental outcomes in adulthood. Early intervention is possible and requires an alternative approach.
Poor mental health usually results from distress and trauma that the young person is feeling and does not know how to deal with it. The young person might not even be able to consciously articulate the emotions they are feeling. The most important people, in helping young people over-come mental health challenges are the parents or carers.
Parents do feel guilt, embarrassment and self-blame, however they have skills and resources that are fundamental to helping the young person.
Poor mental health usually results from distress and trauma that the young person is feeling and does not know how to deal with it. The young person might not even be able to consciously articulate the emotions they are feeling. The most important people, in helping young people over-come mental health challenges are the parents or carers.
Parents do feel guilt, embarrassment and self-blame, however they have skills and resources that are fundamental to helping the young person.
Therefore, at LOHA we put time, energy and resource into assisting parents and carers to help their child or teenager find to recognising and managing their emotions and learning to process and deal with the distress.
The young person’s greatest asset is usually their parents or carers, assisting them to help their child at the earliest opportunity is the most effective measure we can take. It will improve the young person’s mental health outcomes, their parents and their siblings whose mental health can also decline because of a brother or sister’s distress.
Early intervention builds life-long skills that means mental health is more easily managed, stopping long-term mental health problems transferring through into adulthood.
What can parents’ and carers do?
What can parents’ and carers do?
Parents and carers have significant life experiences that they can share with young people to assist them in thinking about their emotions and how to manage them. As parents we often take for granted that our children and teenagers know that we care.
If the young person is struggling with understanding their mental health, this can feel a very lonely place leading to more isolation. Having more empathy from parents demonstrates to teenagers that they are understood and valued can have highly beneficial outcomes they are understood, even if teenagers do not always admit to needing parents’ support.
The young person is often going through a period of significant change, both in terms of their personal development and what’s expected of them by others as they begin moving towards adulthood.
The young person is often going through a period of significant change, both in terms of their personal development and what’s expected of them by others as they begin moving towards adulthood.
Parents have a responsibility to assist young people in making those transitions. This can be done by building closer connection, demonstrating empathy and understanding, which grows trust. As young people feel more connected emotionally, it helps them talk about their experiences and concerns more openly and explore different ways of managing their reactions.
This leads to young people becoming more adaptable in responding to change and hence grows their resilience.
As young people recognise and manage their emotions and adapting to diverse situations, this will give them skills that will assist them in managing their emotional and mental health for the rest of their lives.
As young people recognise and manage their emotions and adapting to diverse situations, this will give them skills that will assist them in managing their emotional and mental health for the rest of their lives.
Such skills will provide a firm foundation for strong relationships with future partners, friends and work colleagues and for their future role as parents to the next generation.
At LOHA, we use technology to assist parents to explore conversations about feelings, thoughts and behaviour. The technology facilitates conversations in a non-threatening way, through drawing, role-play and creativity, which allows the young person to express themselves.
At LOHA, we use technology to assist parents to explore conversations about feelings, thoughts and behaviour. The technology facilitates conversations in a non-threatening way, through drawing, role-play and creativity, which allows the young person to express themselves.
All the families using LOHA to date describe the transformational effects on the young person, and all the family.
