Understanding the Warning Signs of Poor Mental Health in Children and How to Help

What are the most common mental health issues in children?

Though difficult to diagnose, it is estimated that up to 1 in 5 children suffer from a mental health condition. There are five different major categories of mental health disorders, and each one has different symptoms which is why it’s important to understand how they can affect children. The most common childhood mental health issues include depression, anxiety, ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Depression is the single most common mental health disorder in children and adolescents. It’s estimated that roughly 1 out of every 6 children and teens struggle with depression, with girls being twice as likely to struggle with the condition than boys.

If your child is exhibiting symptoms, they will likely display one of these warning signs:

Abnormally low mood

Loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed

Significantly more irritable than usual

Loss of appetite or overeating

Greater difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

Crying for no apparent reason

Low self-esteem, or feelings of worthlessness or guilt

Frequent complaints about physical symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, and stomach aches

Avoidance of friends, family members, or activities they typically enjoy

Thoughts of suicide, death, or hopelessness

It is important to note that depression can look different in teens than it does in younger kids.

How can these mental health issues be treated?

It’s important to know that issues of mental health in children are treatable. There are many different types of interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, and art therapy. As the child gets older, other treatments may become more appropriate such as medication. Mental health issues in children are common and treatable. It’s easy to be overwhelmed, but with the right information, you can start the right path to help your child.

How can we prevent these mental health issues?

The best way to prevent mental health problems in children is by parenting better. When parents are reliable and empathetic, their children will feel less anxious and stressed. In addition, being around nice people will also help children develop good social skills and self-esteem. In order to help your child develop good mental health, you need to be a good role model. Your positive attitude and an optimistic outlook are what they need to develop mental strength.

How can we maintain good mental health in children?

In order to maintain good mental health, you have to do a few things. First, you have to be calm with your children. Meditation is a great way for you to relax and strengthen your mind. It will help you be calmer and more positive. Also, this will set an example for your kids and you can encourage them to practice this as well. In addition, talking to your child about their worries will also help them develop better mental health. Even simple conversations can help them feel better and stronger. Discussing your worries with them will give them a good example of how to handle stress.

How can parents help?

Parents should be aware of the potential mental health issues their children may be dealing with. If you suspect your child has a mental health issue, talk to them about it. Find out what they’re dealing with and help them work through it. If you do need to get them professional help, be supportive. It will not go away on its own and the sooner they get help, the better.

Do not dismiss their feelings as mood swings or bad temperament and attitude. It need not always be so. Try to get them to reason out their behaviour and what triggered them. Accept their emotional outbursts as a valid exhibition of their emotions. Belittling them for crying or getting angry at them does not set the right precedent. It is always better to discuss and help them vent out what they feel than to make them bottle up their emotions.

Make sure they are in the right environment and surrounded by the right people. Bullies at school, unempathetic teachers, bad academic performance, puberty, and peer pressure can all affect them mentally so it is important to know what is happening in their lives and if anything is impacting them negatively.

Conclusion

The five most common mental health issues seen in childhood are depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, and OCD. All children experience these emotions at different intensities. It is important to help your child to understand that it’s not their fault and to provide them with the tools they’ll need for coping. If you or your child is experiencing any of these problems, please reach out to a mental health professional.

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In a society where women have to work doubly hard to be where men are in different fields and fight all the prejudices aimed at them, it’s just not right when some use the same woman’s card to play the victim. Yes, women have been victims of sexism and gender-based oppression and women. Women’s history is witness to how many women’s rights movements it took to gain so many basic things that we have today, like the right to vote. Feminism has often been misconstrued and misunderstood as a movement to undermine men whereas it is just about all genders having equal rights and opportunities.

At the same time, stereotyping men and women under a bracket of social and behavioural constructs again is what feminism is not about. At the same time, saying things like “A woman is always right” and “never argue with a woman”, “women don’t do that” are wrong because one cannot generalize in such broad terms.

While some women emerge as survivors, battling all odds of crime, abuse, lack of opportunities, etc, some others are misusing it to their benefit instead of trying to gain equality.

#NotAllWomen in Women’s History

However, in some instances, women have used their gender and played victim to garner attention or get away from a situation, or have just used their gender as an advantage. People do indulge in various kinds of psychological tricks to get others to side with them in a conflict. While some try to wiggle themselves out of trouble by their speaking skills, others use intimidation, extortion, bribes, pleas, or play the weaker sex.

Here are 5 times women portray themselves as victims

1. Incident of the Rohtak sisters beating three young men with a belt alleging that the men had harassed them. Soon, the video was being broadcast by television channels. The girls were praised by the media and given the nickname “Bravehearts”. After a second video emerged within a few days, which showed them kicking another boy, the opinions began to shift towards negative. Six women claiming to be passengers on the bus had testified in front of the police. They said it was not an issue of harassment, but a dispute over seats as the girls had been occupying a seat allotted to a sick woman.

2. Saravjeet Singh, a 28-year-old Delhi resident, was labeled an “eve teaser” and a “pervert” by media channels after Jasleen Kaur, a former Delhi University student, had in 2015 accused him of verbally harassing her at a traffic signal in West Delhi. He was later acquitted of these charges in 2019 by a judge, claiming that the complainant’s testimony was not trustworthy. But the harm was already done to his reputation and career.

Chennai high Court — Representative Image

3. A man, who faced trial for over seven years for a crime he didn’t commit, was awarded a compensation of Rs 15 lakh by a court in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in 2016. Santosh won the compensation suit against a woman, who had falsely accused him of raping and impregnating her in the year 2012. However, a DNA test confirmed that Santosh is not the father of her child.

4. Actor Payal Rohatgi went on a rant on both Facebook and Twitter on January 3 from the Mumbai airport after two Jet Airways ground staff denied her and her partner Sangram Singh permission to board a flight to Thiruvananthapuram. The fault was on her part when she reached at 6:20 am for a 6:50 am flight when reporting 45 minutes prior to the gates was the rule. She even tried to give it a communal angle since the staff was Muslim.

Kangana ranaut
sushant singh rajput
Karan johar — Source

5. Actor Kangana Ranaut used Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide to talk about unrelated issues in the film industry. She had urged Mumbai Police to question Mahesh Bhatt, Karan Johar, and Aditya Chopra on Sushant Singh’s demise for “systematically sabotaging his career” and abetting his suicide. She sparked a debate of favouritism and nepotism in Bollywood whereas it was later proved that the actor was suffering from mental illness and drug usage which led to him taking his own life.

The boy who cried wolf

It is said that in a conflict you should always take the side of the victim. Women’s history has seen victims of oppression and hence society’s first response is to offer protection and benevolentness towards women and children. This factor is used by some women to gain something they may want or get out of threatening situations at times.

In this fight for equality, it becomes difficult to know the true intentions of the victim and if this is then proved false, imagine the kind of harm and mistrust it sets towards others. These tactics however are usually not resorted to by true feminists, on the contrary, these are probably the ones not interested in equality, though they may claim they have a special interest and claim to be part of a lobby group. They exaggerate the reality, use false and misleading statistics, and use inflammatory language to gain power and demonize males.

These instances make others distrust them and can make them later doubt the truth in another incident. These incidents sometimes mar the entire future of the alleged perpetrator of the crime who may be innocent, but since the harm has been done it is too late to correct the wrong. It is akin to the story of the boy who cried wolf and when the wolf really attacked, nobody believes him. Women’s history has them fight hard battles and is still fighting them but because of a handful of such bad seeds the voice of genuine victims will not be heard and they may continue to suffer.

Infano condemns such victim playing in the name of feminism and women’s rights. Do you have a similar incident to share? Write to us at infano@gmail.com