This is Children’s Mental Health Week and I thought maybe we could use it to share some ideas on what we can do to help our young people and their mental health in lockdown. There are some frightening statistics coming out around the impact that lockdown is having on young people and their mental health. I am not going to dwell on the figures, which are depressing in themselves but it’s true to say that the majority are struggling and girls appear to be suffering more than boys. Let's talk about what is going on and what we can do to help them.
This year’s theme is ‘Express Yourself’ which is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts and ideas creatively - through art, music, writing etc. This sounds ambitious to a mum of teenagers reluctant to express themselves at a basic level, let alone anything more intimate. However for those with younger, or more expressive, kids there are free resources at https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/
Time to Talk Day is this Thursday. This is about finding new initiatives around talking, or listening, in a way that makes conversations about mental health a little bit easier. Sometimes just starting the conversation is all that is needed but that start seems impossible for some. This year the theme is ‘the power of small’. The idea is that very small gestures can make a huge difference to someone.
People of all ages are reluctant to talk about their mental health for a variety of reasons. Now more than ever is the time to try to make a difference, to make these discussions more open and more viable. Right now the majority of us are struggling in one way or another. This is the week to reach out to someone.
I have heard recently that just asking, “How are you?”, followed by “How are you really?”, can be a big help. We all respond automatically that we are fine but sometimes we need permission to not be fine. In helping others we help ourselves. In revealing our own weaknesses, we allow others theirs.
So what can we do for ourselves and for our young people this week?
1 We can ask “How are you really?”. We can suggest different ways of expressing this. This could be through art or writing or teenagers might like to tell us via emojis.
2 We can try to do one thing a day for our mental and physical health and share this with the young people and share with them why we are doing it, and allow them to find their own version.
3 Through trial and error over lockdown, I am now encouraging my young people to have some contact with someone else outside the house each day. That could be a dog walk - or it could be the xbox - compromises have to be made!
4 I also found this lightbox, many teenage girls will have received them as birthday presents over the years and many will have been forgotten about and left to collect dust. We have dusted ours off and are writing a little positive affirmation each week to help keep the mind on track. This is this week’s - “Believe in yourself”. It’s a small gesture but maybe that is what we can offer as parents, with young people who automatically think we know very little and understand less, maybe the best thing we can do it to make many small attempts to make a difference
5 I am encouraging some sort of physical activity a day whether that is a short run, climbing a tree or a few pull ups.
Anything is better than nothing. I am going for “the power of small”. If we start small, it makes everything less overwhelming and far more possible to do something. And doing something is surely the most important thing, no matter how small.