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#Identifying Early Signs of Mental Health Issues in Children

Mental health issues play an important role in the overall well-being of children. Often mental health issues remain untreated because of a lack of knowledge. Recognizing the early signs of mental health issues in children can make a significant difference in their upbringing, relationships, and quality of life. Early identification and treatment can prevent from facing severe mental health conditions later in life. In this article, we are going to understand the early signs that are easily detectable for parents and teachers to get to know about the mental health condition of the child and the necessary steps they can take themselves or contact any Child psychologist if needed. 

Why does early detection matter?

The early years are the most important phase of anyone’s life for making them emotionally strong and mentally active. The whole personality of a person is built at that time. If mental health challenges remain untreated or unnoticed can lead to disaster results like 

  • Academic struggles: facing difficulty in focusing on studies, poor grades, and avoiding attending school.   
  • Social issues: trouble in making friends, and attending social events or gatherings. 
  • Behavioral problems: remain restless or angry. 
  • Bad Physical health: Because of mental health challenges their sleep routine could be disturbed and lose their appetite.  The symptoms like headaches or stomachaches could appear. 

Early detection provides an opportunity for early treatment such as therapy, and counseling, which can improve mental health.  

 Common early signs of mental health issues 

Although every child is unique. However, some universal warning signs indicate that a child is facing mental health challenges and needs your support. Here are some key signs you can monitor in your child. 

Emotional changes

Children who are facing mental health challenges often show emotional changes such as 

  • Consistent sadness and restlessness
  • Extreme mood swings 
  • Frequent anger and getting frustrated easily
  • Excessive worry or fearfulness

These emotional shifts can disturb the overall mood of the child and can disturb his/her daily living activities as well. 

Behavioral changes 

Pay close attention to a child who is suffering from mental health problems. Their behavior is itself the biggest early sign to identify.  

  • Making distance from friends and family members
  • Suddenly Loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed the most 
  • Difficulty staying consistent with routines such as bedtime or homework 
  • Increased level of aggression and showing out-of-control behavior 

Physical symptoms 

The physical body can be disturbing because of mental health issues, some self-explanatory physical symptoms could be 

  • Getting tired by doing small activities
  • Laziness 
  • Not doing exercises regularly
  • Not active in sports 
  • Frequent headaches and stomachaches without any medical cause
  • Frequent changes in sleep schedules
  • Loss of appetite

Academic performance 

Mental health issues can negatively affect a child’s academic life as well. You can look at signs like as 

  • Getting low grades
  • Difficulty in concentration on studies 
  • Reluctant to attend the school 
  • Not participating in co-curricular activities  

Self-harm and risky behavior 

It is the most obvious sign of identifying the child as having mental health issues.  These signs could be like:

  • Cutting or scratching on skin
  • Substance use 

These are the signs that parents should never ignore, otherwise, the outcomes could be disasters and regret for not paying attention on time. 

Reasons for mental health issues in children 

Any child can face mental health challenges, there could be some factors that cause of a higher rate of mental health problems in children like as: 

  • Genetic history of depression
  • Chronic illness
  • Past traumas
  • Medical condition

By understanding the risk factors, parents or caregivers can stay alert and make early interventions. 

How parents can help 

Parents can take necessary steps to help their beloved child who needs their most attention when he/she is suffering from some condition about which even he can’t discuss properly; what is going on in mind. 

Open communication 

Parents should not hesitate to discuss openly with their children.  They can encourage the child to express their feeling. Ask about the day, and experiences with things happening around you. Shows an urge to know about what he learned today. 

  • Asking open question 
  • Active listening without judgment 
  • Validate their emotions, even when you don’t fully understand. 

Promote healthy habits 

  • Make sure your child is getting enough sleep 
  • Encourage the child to do exercises daily 
  • Limit screen time and ask to spend most of the time with friends and family

Monitor behavior 

Stay active about changes in the behavior of your child and seek help if needed. Note down the changes you observe and analyze the changing pattern. If the child was happy before and now starts getting angry/ frustrated or sad. You should not ignore these behavioral changes. While sitting with your child ask him/her politely what thing is disturbing her/him and let the child open up the feelings. 

Seeking professional help 

After analyzing the early signs, parents can make changes in lifestyle and eating but still, they need a child psychologist or mental health expert to seek help. Parents can search online best psychologist in Pakistan and book consultations or visit the clinic as well based on preference which suits them the most. Mental health experts will find the root cause of the problem and will make strategies for treatment accordingly. They can also suggest medication for relaxing the mind. 

Conclusion

This is the important role of parents to stay alert and Identify any changes (emotional, psychological, or behavioral) in the child. By understanding the early signs of mental health problems in children can help in making effective ways to treat them on time. Some steps like open communication, a healthy lifestyle, and seeking professional help could be beneficial. Our children are our future, together we have to create an environment where every child should get the opportunity to discuss their feelings and thrive emotionally, socially, and academically. 

by Alex Smith

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