Parents can recognise mental illness in children as serious changes in their child’s typical behaviour, which may cause distress. Mental disorders are very common among children belonging to the age group of 13–18. Without treatment, mental disorder can become more severe and will become difficult to handle.
According to experts, one of the major causes of stress in children is excessive use of electronic gadgets. Therefore, it is suggested that you install software to help you manage excessive use of electronic gadgets such as Samsung tablet parental controls in your kid’s device to monitor them regularly. Moreover, children without treatment have a higher probability of developing other mental frailties so take your kids to doctor regularly.
Symptoms of mental illness in children
Recognising symptoms on time can solve half of the problem. You just need to understand how to identify developing symptoms of these diseases and how to help your child in such situations. Children’s symptoms vary depending on the type of mental illness they may be suffering from and some of them are:
- Poor academic performance. For instance, poor grades despite good efforts/ hard work.
- Throwing frequent temper tantrums.
- Consistently complaining of headaches or stomach aches.
- Change in sleeping patterns – either they’ll sleep too-less or they can sleep all day. Moreover, you can also observe persistent nightmares or night terrors in them.
- Stealing and damaging of property.
- Losing interest in social activities and lack of concentration.
- Frequent mood swings and long-lasting negative moods. Additionally, you can also observe the sudden outbursts of anger on a regular basis.
Common mental illnesses
It is important to realise that children can also suffer from the same mental illness as adults. Although it is quite difficult for parents to identify mental illness in children, but having a basic knowledge can help a lot. Some most common mental illness in children are:
- Anxiety disorder. This type of mental illness usually results in anxiety such as separation anxiety, nervousness, persistent fears, or thoughts. The signs they show are usually sweating and a rapid heartbeat.]
- Eating disorder. The thought of an ideal body type, consistent thinking of weight loss, and dieting habits are generally referred to as an eating disorder. You can usually observe problematic eating behavior such as bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating among children with eating disorders.
- Schizophrenia. It is probably one of the most serious disorders resulting in distorted perceptions and thoughts. For instance, seeing things that are not there, hearing voices, or smelling odours that are not present.
- Posttraumatic stress disorder. Children who experience abuse, serious injuries, or go through other traumatic events suffer from the post-traumatic stress disorder. This results in prolonged anxiety, nightmares, and distress.
How to help your child to recover from mental disease?
Being a parent, you have to realise that only you can bring your child out of depression. Therefore, to help your child overcome depression you must do the following:
- You should have knowledge about the disease.
- Try to visit your child’s mental health doctor regularly. And learn to understand how to respond to your child’s behavior in different situations.
- Seek ways to keep them calm and relax. Moreover, engage them in activities that will keep them busy.
- Praise your child’s abilities in front of them and motivate them to do more.
Nevertheless, now you can find now many applications, specially designed for people suffering from mental disorders. These apps not only keep your child engage but also help to release their stress. However, it is important that you keep things in balance don’t let your child use these apps for too long.
Just by understanding and acknowledging the mental disorders that are becoming a hindrance to your child’s growth, will help them.
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Image credit: Freepik
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg. He interviews people within psychology, mental health, and well-being on his YouTube channel, The DRH Show.
