Parenting a child with a mental illness, anxiety, and behavioral disorder is challenging. You can consult a medical professional, a therapist, get a hospitalization service, brainstorm ideas to deal with the situation, or read some mental health books for parents for more information on mental health and illnesses among children.
Children can suffer from the same mental health conditions as adults, but the symptoms may differ.
It is hard to identify mental illness in children. Consequently, many children remain deprived of the treatment they need. Understand how to recognize red flags of most prevalent mental health issues in children.
What is a Mental Illness?
The overall mental wellness includes how you think, behave, and regulate your feelings. The turmoil in a person’s behavior, feeling or thinking, and inability to cope with difficult situations is mental illness.
In children, mental health disorders are considered a hindrance or interruption in the developing age in terms of thinking, social personality, cognitive behavior, and regulation of emotions. Children also face mental health stigma in schools. The parents must learn the tips to make out difficult situations related to mental health issues.
The red flags of Mental Illness in children-
-Consistent sadness for more than two weeks.
-Revoking social interactions.
-Hurting themselves or talking about hurting themselves.
-Suicidal tendency.
-Outbursts or severe irritation.
-Uncontrollable harmful behavior.
-Drastic mood changes.
-Changed eating habits (low or high appetite)
-Weight loss.
-Sleeping disorder.
-Frequent headaches or stomach aches
-Distracted focus.
-Low academic performance
-Escaping from responsibilities( school, academic work)
Most prevalent Mental Health Problems in Children-
After getting proper treatment, children with mental health disorders can become fully-fledged members of society. Unfortunately, many children stay undiagnosed.
To avoid the further downfall of your child with mental illness like substance abuse or criminal activities. You must learn to catch the red flags and get on-time treatment.
Here is the list of the most prevalent mental health problems in children.
ADHD-
According to CDC, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the most common mental health problem in kids. It shows that kids diagnosed with ADHD disorder is growing over time, from 9.4% of kids aged 2 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD.
In addition, children having ADHD are more prone to other mental health problems such as depression and autism.
Behavioral Issues-
If a child’s behavior has crossed the societal limits, such as over-aggressiveness, lies, and stealing. And has problems getting along with parents and authority figures. They are liable to get diagnosed with behavioral issues.
Anxiety-
Anxiety disorders come with constant fear, worries, or anxiety that disturbs the ability to participate in school, sports, or typical age-appropriate social situations.
If the child is generally worried about situations, avoiding social interactions, and not able to leave their peers, i.e. those they are comfortable with are suffering from the anxiety symptoms.
Depression-
Consistent feelings of sadness for more than two weeks and the inability to function at school and in other social situations are considered symptoms of depression. Depression is more common in teenagers.
Bipolar disorder results in extreme mood swings, severe depression, and manic episodes.
Autism Spectrum Disorders-
Autism child is a by birth mental disorder child. This condition appears in early childhood, usually before age 3.
Although the severity of ASD varies from child to child, the child who has ASD suffering from ASD has difficulty interacting with others and communicating. Read books
Eating disorders-
These mental disorders, such as bulimia, and anorexia nervosa cause abnormal eating behaviors. Eating disorders in children must not be confused with being picky about eating. A child may be diagnosed with an eating disorder when symptoms like an unhealthy attitude towards food. It can result in inefficiency in social activities and physical complications.
If you acknowledge any behaviors related to mental health issues, an early diagnosis is key to helping your child cope with the mental disorder.
If you acknowledge any behaviors related to mental health issues, an early diagnosis is key to helping your child cope with the mental disorder.
Tips for parents of children with mental health issues
You are the main factor in supporting your child’s treatment. To handle the mental health issues with your child:
-Learn about the disorder: talk about it to specialists and read books about mental health for parents.
-Treat the child normally as others and provide family counseling.
-Consult the mental health professional about handling your child in traumatic or other difficult situations.
-Enrol in a parent training program designed for children with mental health issues.
-Explore stress management techniques to help you while handling your child.
-Appreciate your child’s strengths and skills.
-Connect with the school staff to create a safe and secure support system.
Mental health books for parents
It’s well said that books can be your best and true companion. Books Simplify our lives; Books allow their readers to adapt, react, evolve, and, more importantly, stay updated. Books Simplify our lives. Books enable their readers to adapt, respond, develop, and stay updated more importantly. Books are a reliable friend to man. Good books deepen our knowledge and widen our perspective on life. Books will never let you feel lonely in their company.
Eventually, you must stay updated about mental health issues and gain an in-depth knowledge of different mental health topics.
Nevertheless, The stigma surrounding mental health still exists. People don’t consider mental health as a health issue at all. In those days, people who had a mental illness were hospitalized without real help for their scenario.
Luckily, we are creating advocacy against mental illnesses today. Mental health is a huge factor in your overall well-being, so you need to be aware of how you can acknowledge symptoms and seek help for yourselves and those in pain.
Here is the list of some books on mental health for parents. The topics covered in these books are:
-ADHD and Hyperactivity
-Anger
-Anxiety
-Depression
-Eating Disorders
-Life Stages
-Parenting
-Autism
-Behavior
-Bereavement
-Childhood Depression
-Sexuality
-Self-Esteem
1. I Hate to Write– Cheryl Boucher and Kathy Oehler
The book consists of tips for helping kids with autism spectrum disorder become happy and successful writers.
Most of the students who have autism hate to write. I Hate to Write is a new book by autism consultants Kathy Oehler and Cheryl Boucher that helps the teachers to view the point of view of autistic students. This book teaches the four aspects of writing that are problematic for students with ASD-
-Language
-Organization
-Sensory & visual-motor skills.
2. If Your Adolescent Has an Anxiety Disorder-Linda Wasmer Andrews and Edna B. Foa.
An essential resource for parents handling pressure while growing up is harder for any teenager, but it is significantly harder for those who have developed anxiety disorders. This book is a fundamental guide for teachers, parents, and others surrounding adults involved with teenagers who may be affected by these disorders. Sections cover four types of anxiety disorders, including
-Generalized anxiety.
-Social anxiety.
-Obsessive-compulsive anxiety.
-Post-traumatic stress disorders.
3. If Your Adolescent Has an Eating Disorder-B. Timothy Walsh and V. L. Cameron
This book is an authoritative guide to understanding and helping a teenager with symptoms like:
-Anorexia nervosa
-Bulimia nervosa
-Binge eating disorder
-Restrictive food intake disorder
-Other eating disorders.
4. If Your Adolescent Has Depression or Bipolar Disorder–Dwight L. Evans and Linda Wasmer Andrews
An essential resource for parents if your child is suffering from a mood disorder or bipolar disorder, it is hard to handle their moodiness. This book is a definitive guide to understanding and getting help for children suffering from depression or bipolar disorder. Specially designed for parents and other surrounding adults. The different aspects covered in this book include:
-The biochemical roots of adolescent mood disorders
-Psychiatric medications for young people
-Latest scientific evidence on methods of stopping mood disorders
-Strategies for helping a teen cope at home and school.
5. A Parent Guide to Hair Pulling Disorder- Suzanne Mouton-Odum and Ruth Goldfinger Golomb
This book is a Parent Guide to Hair Pulling Disorder. Formerly known as Stay Out of My Hair with Trichotillomania.
It’s a guide for children with obsessive hair pulling or trichotillomania. This book meets the particular need of challenges faced by parents in dealing with this misunderstood behavior, which is common among adolescents and children.
6. Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids-Dr Laura Markham
This book is a remarkable guide for parents to understand their own emotions better. Based on recent research on brain development and extended clinical experience with parents. He gave a simple message from the book to foster an emotional connection with your child. This connection avoids the unnecessary habits of threatening, nagging, pleading, bribing, or even punishing.
This book includes:
-What is peaceful parenting?
-What is permissive parenting?
-How does a parents’ trauma affect their parenting?
-Why do you need to stop using punishments as parenting tactics?
-What should working parents do differently than, say, a stay-at-home parent?
-What are the essential emotional development stages in kids, and how do parent at each of these stages?
7. Depression and Your Child-Deborah Serani
Deborah has written this book on her own experiences. She was a depressed child, so she connected with the readers very well.
This book includes topics like:
-Child development
-Pediatric Depression.
-Warning signs and tips for detecting the illness.
8. If Your Adolescent Has Schizophrenia-Raquel E. Gur and Ann Braden Johnson
This book is an informative guide written to help adults spot the warning signs and seek appropriate treatment for the young people in their lives. Parents will learn about the disease, including the red flags and information on arranging for the proper diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia.
This book will offer readers trusted information and support that will enable them to address this disorder and get their children meaningful medical and psychosocial help to reduce its effects.
9. Raising Troubled Kids- Margaret Puckette
For troubled children or teens, this book is for you. It is a practical guide on how to get stressful home situations under control. This book consists of professional advice from therapists and psychiatrists who have treated troubled children.
The chapters include:
-Setting boundaries and structure in the home
-Safety measures
-Telling the difference between what’s ‘normal’ about your child’s behavior.
-What requires mental health treatment or extraordinary measures.
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