World Mental Health Day is October 10th. In 2023, the theme for World Mental Health Day is: "mental health is a universal human right."
According to the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), more than one in five youths ages 13-18 are currently struggling or will struggle with serious mental health illness.
In a recent interview on Fox News, Dr. Megan Campbell, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children's Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana shared practical tips on how to support teens through life challenges.
Dr. Campbell stresses the importance of children developing resilience to deal the many challenges that life will surely present, with the key being that children learn how to face the challenges with a good outlook.
For children to learn, they must be supported through life's challenges and taught crucial coping tools.
These are her tips for adults to help raise resilient children:
(1) Embrace setbacks as learning opportunities.
Setbacks are inevitable. Although painful, it is both necessary and good for children to experience setbacks so that they learn how to cope with them. The parents' role is to validate their children's feelings while helping them gain perspective. Dr. Campbell suggests that parents share their own experiences with setbacks to show that setbacks are common and happen to everyone. Also, talking openly about setbacks promotes normalization of the process of overcoming obstacles.
2) Focus on the process rather than the outcome.
Although no one likes to lose, Dr. Campbell emphasizes that it is important to focus on and acknowledge the effort and work put into the process, regardless of outcome. She stresses the importance of focusing on the courage it takes for children to put themselves out there and to encourage them, assuring their children that they will have many more future opportunities.
(3) Nurture passions and strengths.
Dr. Campbell says it is important for parents to encourage their children to try many different activities and explore their passions. she says that children who "discover and commit to pursuits that ignite their passion" will be empowered to flourish.
(4) Cultivate perseverance.
Dr. Campbell again emphasizes that supporting kids through difficulties while "encouraging them to approach problems from different angles fosters the mindset that they are capable of conquering challenges."
World Mental Health Day is a day meant for spreading awareness about mental health and a chance for everybody to talk about it and reach out if struggling.
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