Mental health awareness is important for both parents and teenagers. Parents with mental health education can provide the support their teenagers need. And educated teens will know the importance of reaching out instead of facing challenges alone.
Sometimes, teens may not feel comfortable speaking up. But when parents know what to look out for, they can spot signs and act quickly. Learning more about mental health awareness helps to identify and address mental health challenges early on.
What Is Mental Health Awareness in Simple Terms?
Mental health awareness is the process of continually educating people on mental health conditions. It helps to reduce the stigma around mental health issues by correcting misconceptions and encouraging people to tell their stories.
When more people are educated on mental health issues, it helps them to look out for harmful emotions and behaviors in themselves and others. Mental health awareness also creates an environment where those who need help can easily seek it.
Importance of Mental Health Awareness
Many parents struggle to discuss mental health with their kids. Promoting mental health awareness makes these conversations easier. It encourages parents to create a safe space for their teenagers.
Mental health awareness also encourages teenagers to speak out and ask for help. The goal is to create a world where teenagers feel confident going to their parents because they know that they will receive the love and support they need.
The importance of mental health awareness can’t be overemphasized. Educating parents and teenagers helps them both to recognize potentially harmful emotions and behaviors.
Teens And Mental Health
Teen mental health is a delicate subject. One that requires compassion in how you handle it. And even more compassion in how you approach the teenager in question.
As a parent, it can be difficult to figure out if your teen needs help and how to offer that help. This is why mental health awareness is so important. It teaches parents to look out for signs that might indicate mental issues in teenagers.
Sadly, there has been a rise in mental health issues among teenagers in South Africa. This rise emphasizes the need for more mental health awareness in families and schools. To properly understand the issue of mental health in South Africa, let’s take a look at some the common issues in teens:
Anxiety
Anxiety is a powerful negative emotion that can leave teenagers feeling weak, restless, or irritable. While it is a normal reaction to uncertainty and stress, excessive anxiety can have dire effects. Teens who have anxiety have trouble concentrating in school and they might even struggle to fall asleep.
Depression
This mental health issue completely overrides how teenagers think, behave, and react to life in general. Depressed teens might seem withdrawn and will appear to have a lack of interest in life. They’re usually sad, angry, or easily irritated.
They might even turn to harmful activities like drug use or self-harm. In extreme cases, depressed teens might mention suicidal thoughts, feelings of worthlessness, or lack of hope for the future. It’s important to act fast if you notice any of these signs.
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Stress and Peer Pressure
In South Africa today, many teenagers feel pressured to fit in at school and in other social groups. The need to be accepted is causing a lot of teenagers to act out of character. It typically leads to low self-esteem and the gradual washing away of their sense of self.
As teenagers conform to the standard set by their peers, they might grow resentful of their physical features or preferences. This inevitably leads to increased stress and anxiety.
Mental Health And Parenting
One of the best ways parents can support their teens is by encouraging mental health awareness conversations at home. Open discussions about emotions, stress, and anxiety help to build trust between parents and teenagers. And when there is trust, your teen will come to you first with any issue they might be facing.
How Can Parents Support Their Teen’s Mental Health?
Parenting teenagers isn’t always easy. At that age, they’re determined to live their own lives and listen to absolutely no one. This might make it difficult to talk to them but as a parent, it’s your job to keep trying.
Let your teenagers know that you’re always there to help them. Even when everyone else might judge them, you should never stop being their safe space. Here are five things parents can do to support their teen’s mental health:
1. Encouraging Open Conversations About Mental Health
Simply encouraging your teens to discuss their emotions can boost mental health awareness. You can make it a daily ritual to check in with them. Ask them how their day was or what happened at school that day.
If they do open up to you, be gentle with your response. Make them feel comfortable talking with you about any and everything. Offer a listening ear even when they want to ramble about random things.
This is how they’ll get comfortable telling you the more serious stuff.
2. Take an Interest in the Things They Enjoy
As a parent, you should also know your teenagers’ passions and hobbies. Learn the basics of the sport they enjoy or the characters in their favorite show. Know their friends’ names and try to remember small details about them.
If your teen plays a sport or instrument, or they’re a part of a school play, then show up to support them. Be their biggest cheerleader and celebrate their wins. If their team loses or something else goes wrong, remind them that their worth isn’t dictated by these things.
3. Take Care of Your Own Mental Health
Teenagers are very smart and they pick up on things easily. When you take care of your mental health, you set a positive example for your teen. You can try journaling, exercising, and meditating to improve your mental health.
Talking to your teen is also a great way to foster an environment where communication flows. Make sure to keep what you share light; you don’t want to burden your teenager with adult issues.
Instead, share something funny that happened at work or discuss the new show you’re watching. And be sure to listen more than you talk. Share something to make them comfortable and then listen to understand them, not to respond.
4. Provide a Stable Home Environment
This is probably the most important way to support good mental health. Giving your teen a stable and predictable home environment will help them thrive. It promotes mental health awareness and it boosts emotional well-being in teenagers.
A chaotic, stressful, or violent home environment will only harm teenagers. Teens tend to pick up on what they see. And they might act out the behaviors they see at home.
5. Set Healthy Boundaries with Social Media and Screen Time
Social media and the internet expose teens to beneficial resources. But they also expose them to harmful people, sites, or emotions. Cyberbullying is a major cause of depression in teens.
Teenagers who spend hours online might develop low self-esteem from comparing themselves to other people. Mental health awareness reminds parents to set healthy boundaries for their teens.
How to Recognize Signs of Poor Mental Health in Teenagers in South Africa
Parents who study mental health awareness are more likely to notice when their teen is struggling. Signs of poor mental health are often right in front of us so it’s crucial to keep an eye out. Watch teenagers closely and be ready to swoop in if they ever need help.
The first thing most parents notice is a shift in their teenager’s emotions or behaviors. This shift can be subtle at first but if you know what to look out for, they’ll be easier to spot. Some emotional changes to look out for include:
- Mood swings, such as sudden bouts of crying that seem to happen for no reason
- Sadness or a lack of interest in activities they once loved
- Anger or constant fighting (this could be at home or school)
- Low self-esteem or self-criticism
- Irritable
- Trouble concentrating
Behavioral changes to look out for include:
- Trouble falling asleep or sleeping too much
- Tiredness
- Self-harm
- Drug or alcohol use
- Loss of appetite or excessive eating
- A drop in academic performance
- Missed school days
Final Thoughts
Every conversation about mental health awareness brings South Africa one step closer to a better environment for all teenagers. It’s important to encourage open conversations at home. And remind teenagers that seeking help is a sign of strength and not weakness.
When teenagers understand mental health awareness, they can identify unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. It also encourages them to speak up and teaches all of us how we can do better.
If you need help and you don’t know who to ask, then reach out to us. We’re here to guide you through any emotional challenge you might be facing.
This article was prepared by Techdella.
