5 Tips to Support Your Child's Mental Health

According to Fred Kaelin, executive director, Shine Initiative, “ Families are grappling with significant disruption of their day-to-day lives thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. The substantial anxiety caused by the unpredictability of the situation impacts even the youngest of us.”

The Shine Initiative is a Worcester-based nonprofit dedicated to working with Central Massachusetts’ middle school and high school youth, parents, caregivers and faculty leaders to remove the stigma around mental illness and build mental wellness.

Here Kaelin offers 5 tips to help parents support their child’s mental health during these unprecedented times.

1. Be intentional when you speak with them. Limit talking with kids when you are emotionally elevated yourself. This intentionality and mindfulness will allow you to project reassurance and to answer their questions matter-of-factly. No matter how concerned you may be about the big picture, they need to be reassured that they are safe.

2. Focus on what they can control, like washing their hands, going outside to play in the yard, etc. Tell them about coping skills that help you and help them find age appropriate ones for themselves that promote emotional regulation: nature, music, journaling, drawing, deep breathing, exercise, etc.

3. Make it about others as well. It feels good to kids to be a part of a caring community, something larger than themselves. Talking about how canceled events and social distancing are in place to protect others and help doctors can help them get outside their own heads for a time.

4. Help your kids stay connected to close friends and family, especially if you are in a school closure, social distancing, or self-quarantine situation. Social isolation and loss of routine are major triggers for downturns in mental health. Use phone calls, Facetime/Zoom, etc. We recommend seeing/hearing others over text and messenger services for the most benefit.

5. Acknowledge their emotions in the moment. It is normal to feel sad or angry if a sport or play is canceled, a birthday is disrupted, etc. Try not to tell them that the situation is much bigger than their concerns, but instead acknowledge the upset they are feeling.

Find more resources, including lists of coping skills and Shine’s Mindmatters interactive app, at www.shineinitiative.org.

About the SHINE Initiative

The SHINE Initiative is a leader in the fight against mental illness in children and young adults, developing funding and strategic alliances to improve mental health awareness, research, programming and public policy. The SHINE Initiative promotes the fact that mental illness is a mainstream issue and that recovery from mental illness is possible.

The SHINE Initiative was established in partnership with Fidelity Bank in 2004 when the Bank made the choice to focus half of their annual giving on a single area of need in order to make a real impact. With the help of the United Way of North Central Massachusetts, Fidelity Bank identified the cause of mental illness as needing corporate leadership and the SHINE Initiative was born.