For most of us, we did not hear the words ‘mental health’ in our growing years. However, with growing awareness, we are slowly realizing the importance of mental health support for all people. In the current scenario, we are facing a growing epidemic of mental health issues across ages and generations. With so much uncertainty around, a lot of us are forced to come face to face with some of our biggest fears. Whether this fear is losing a job, being unable to provide for our families, or even not knowing what we want to do. We are facing all of us with a paucity of social support.
For our children, the situation is unprecedented as well. Being in a social environment is crucial for development. All of us have learned so much from just being around people. Research around child development is unanimous about the importance of this. However, for our children right now, what they are facing is a lack of social interaction (zoom video calls are not the same) and this frustration is coming out in many different ways.
So how do we support ourselves and our children during this time? What can we do to help tide over these times and provide adequate support to our collective mental health? Here are a few pointers that I have seen to be helpful:
- Acknowledge: Acknowledge that mental health is important. When we acknowledge and accept that we need to pay attention to our mental health, we become aware of what it is doing and whether it needs support or not.
- Awareness: Building awareness of the importance of mental health is crucial. We do not have to be mental health professionals to communicate the importance of mental health. Anytime you hear someone mention a difficult situation, encourage them to seek professional support if necessary. If you find useful information on social media about mental health, a simple share helps in building this awareness.
- De-stigmatise: De-stigmatize seeking professional mental health support. Just like it is routine to visit a doctor when you are unwell, it is just as normal to visit a therapist or a counsellor when you are not feeling well mentally. Do not put down people for seeking help by calling them ‘weak’ or by telling them that they do not need support.
All of us need support at different points in our lives and seeking professional help is sometimes the best way we can help ourselves.
To reach out to the counsellors at CMRNPS for your child, you can use this link below. Please select the option ‘student wellness’:
