Children aren’t equipped with the emotional resources they need to keep their world steady. In fact, according to research:
- Nearly one in three adolescents meets the criteria for an anxiety disorder by age 18.
- One in six children (ages six to 17) are diagnosed with a mental illness.
- The number of teenagers who experience depression has increased by 59% over the past 10 years.
My guest on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, author Eliza Huie, says recent studies are revealing that bullying, social media, exposure to traumatizing news and images and the effects of living through the global pandemic of 2020 are having a severe emotional impact on children’s mental health. Emotional health affects every aspect of children’s relationships, how they react to people, and how they see the world. Which is why one of the primary goals of parenting is to raise emotionally healthy children who become emotionally healthy adults.
Some children who struggle with emotional well-being are hardworking and highly involved at school. They get good grades, rarely, if ever, cause problems at home, and feel intense pressure to be stellar at everything they do. So, how can parents discern when their children are struggling?
Eliza and I discussed that question fully, including:
- The importance of mental health in children.
- How to nurture children wholly as unique individuals.
- Understanding your child’s emotional capacity in order to offer age-appropriate help.
- How to regard your child’s feelings.
- How to cultivate lasting hope.
- How to attend to yourself.
- Knowing when to get professional help.