How hard is helping your kids deal with depression and anxiety? We have seen the young generation coping with depression and anxiety more than ever. But how can we solve this issue? Is there any way parents can help their kids? This blog is a reminder for all parents who are supporting their kids dealing with depression and anxiety.
Parents play an essential role in assisting their kids in coping with anxiety and depression. Kids learn brave behavior and coping skills at home, which can help them face their fears, accept reasonable risks, and ultimately gain confidence. Parents often say that there is something different about their child from a very young age but didn’t realize it as anxiety.
Some parents think anxious behaviors are typical as they too behaved similarly. As a result, parents of depressed and anxious kids are often confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed about what to do.
How can you help your kids with depression and anxiety? Let’s discuss various tips that can help your kids with such mental health. In this blog, I am sharing five tips that can be helpful for you while helping your kids deal with depression and anxiety.
Helping Your Kids Deal With Depression and Anxiety
Depression and anxiety can affect your kid’s sleep, appetite, and concentration in study. Depressed kids may lose interest in schoolwork and activities, look tired, give up easily, or leave their friends and family. Depression and anxiety can make kids feel rejected, worthless, or unpleasant.
Young people can get sad or moody sometimes, as it is a part of life. Young people often get sad and worried about exams, changing schools or moving house, and fights with family or friends. Sometimes, the sadness lasts for weeks or months and affects their everyday life leading to depression. Like all, young people can sometimes get mood swings, feel irritable, and be sensitive to rejection and criticism. But, if these moods last for two or more weeks, the kids may have anxiety.
When kids have depression and anxiety, it is difficult for them to make an effort, even when doing things they like. Everyday problems can seem more complex than they are. When depression and anxiety are severe, it can lead to serious mental health problems, self-harm, and even suicide.
It can be difficult for parents and other adults to recognize when their children are depressed or anxious. An irritable or angry mood may appear to be a sign of disrespect or a lousy attitude—parents, as well as children, may be unaware that these are symptoms of depression.
5 Tips For Helping Your Kids Deal With Depression and Anxiety
If a young person is self-harming or contemplating suicide, they must speak with family or close friends. Assist them in remaining safe by removing potentially dangerous items such as medication, guns, or other weapons and encouraging them to seek medical attention.
Irritability, outbursts, and feeling overwhelmed are common among depressed and anxious kids. As difficult as it may be for the parent experiencing these behaviors, parents must maintain their composure and concentrate on active listening. It’s a natural essence for a parent to want to “fix” or “cure” their child’s mental illness, but mental illness is complicated. It can’t be fixed; however, it can be improved. Your kids can thrive and enjoy childhood once again with the proper treatment and support.
As a parent, you need to be ready to deal with big and small issues that include taking care of your kid’s mental health. Among young people, depression and anxiety aren’t as rare as we thought they would be. Moreover, if you suspect that your child is depressed and anxious, here are some tips for helping your kids deal with depression and anxiety:
1) Monitor Social Media
Kids are increasingly interested in new technologies and social media. Such applications are targeted and harmful to people with mental illnesses. Kids often turn to the internet to escape their problems, but as screen time increases, physical activity and face time with friends decrease. Both of these factors contribute to the symptoms getting worse. To overcome it, you can use a monitoring app like fenced.ai, a powerful monitoring tool that allows you to create a digitally safe home environment for your children.
After installing it on your device, you can remotely monitor what your kids are doing in the digital sphere. You can provide your children with a safer cyber environment by monitoring their calls, contacts, messages, and social media. You can view your child’s web browsing history to see if they have been exposed to any violent content. When they’re in danger, you’ll receive immediate notifications. You can prevent your kids from being exposed to cyberbullying and other online safety risks by blocking potentially harmful applications.
In mental illness, sleep is essential. Although social media can be beneficial for socializing, it can also be harmful, leading to depressive, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Therefore, it is essential to install such monitoring apps for your kid’s mental health.
2) Help them feel connected
Helping your kids deal with depression and anxiety can lead to isolation which is a common experience with depressed kids. Lack of interaction and connection can worsen the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Of course, you can’t force your child to make friends or socialize. Some kids have a hard time interacting socially and making the first move with new friends. As a result, this is a delicate topic that requires patience.
You can encourage your child to join a school club or participate in extracurricular activities. Encourage your children to have playdates and sleepovers at your home. Gather your family and plan a get-together. Whatever encourages your child to maintain social contact will be beneficial. Just keep in mind that you should never leave loneliness unattended, as it will not go away by itself.
3) Encourage a healthy lifestyle
Mental and physical health are closely linked, and a healthy lifestyle can aid in the management of depression and anxiety symptoms. Of course, you can’t force your child to live a healthy lifestyle, but you can provide healthy options and model a healthy lifestyle for them. Subtle suggestions and setting a good example can encourage them to live a healthy lifestyle for themselves.
Please encourage your child to participate in sports or go for walks with them regularly. You can provide your company as an exercise buddy or suggest that they find one on their own. Provide nutritious meals and encourage kids to eat well as much food as possible. Remove all sugary drinks and refined sugar from the fridge and replace them with fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
When they don’t get enough sleep, their bodies feel threatened and exhausted. As a result, they become tired and unmotivated, which can worsen depression. If you can, try to persuade your child to sleep regularly and maintain a consistent bedtime routine.
4) Give emotional support
Your child requires emotional support, and you must be their primary caregiver. The road to helping your kids deal with depression and anxiety is quite challenging. Family emotional support is the foundation of other social relations. But, how can you build this kind of firm foundation?
Spend some quality time with your child and give them your undivided attention. Please encourage them to have open and honest discussions with you. Pay attention and listen to your child’s words. Also, try to recognize their internal conflicts.
To help your child fight anxiety and depression, you need to provide a supportive home environment and listen, talk and encourage them. You can help your child overcome depression and anxiety by ensuring that you have a healthy and open relationship with them.
Showing support without being pushy can help you gain your kid’s trust, allowing them to open up about their problems and concerns as they arise. This behavior will enable you to recognize potential warning signs and respond appropriately.
5) Get professional help
The essential thing is that you don’t ignore the problem, instead provide your child with the resources and support to deal with it. Low self-esteem, hopelessness, drastic changes in eating habits, feeling guilty and ashamed, lack of energy and motivation, fatigue and aches, and thoughts of suicide and death are some of the warning signs of depression and anxiety. While you are helping your kids to deal with depression and anxiety and you see that your kids are showing one or more of these symptoms, they may require professional help.
Make an appointment with a mental health provider in your area and consult with them. Speak with their pediatrician for further guidance. The depressed kids may not notice changes in a mood right away and may become discouraged by the treatment’s initial side effects, such as antidepressants. Treatment is effective, but it may take a few weeks to see results.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, I would say that kids are not mini-adults and are developing and changing rapidly, even when experiencing a depressive episode. As such, symptoms can become more severe or less severe throughout treatment.
The purpose of this blog is to assist parents and their anxious and depressed children. Take these five tips to help your kid’s anxiety and depression, whether your child is just beginning to show symptoms or has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
If the condition is severe, then consult with a professional doctor. I hope you find this post helpful and hope to see your doubts in the comment section. Be patient and listen to your kids; everything will be okay. Take care and live a happy life.
About the Author: David is Mental health researcher. He loves to research mental problems and instability in detail, offering solutions and raising awareness.
