Mental and Psychological Health for the child :

 Mental and Psychological Health for the child : As a white paper, he is that innocent child who lives with his family and his social surroundings and is quickly affected by everything that goes on around him either positively or negatively, and that results in the child’s behavior, emotions, and mental and psychological health.

Everything that a child is affected by during childhood influences his behavior in different stages of his life, such as adolescence or puberty, and what happens in childhood can reflect on the individual in one way or another later; as many psychological problems or emotional issues are due to previous experience or an old situation that occurred with the child or witnessed it in front of him.

Here comes the responsibility of parents to raise children in order to achieve psychological and mental health for them, and pay attention to the way he thinks and feels, and his emotions with the surrounding community, as “A healthy child comes out of a healthy home”.

It is never difficult to assess a child’s mental and emotional health, as it depends on a combination of internal or external factors that any parent can observe, including the way he sleeps, dreams, eats, and his interactions with them and with others, things that happen around him, and the emotions he respond with based on different situations.

The most important signs of a Child’s Mental Health:

1. Living in the shadow of a family

The child’s upbringing in a stable family dominated by understanding and connection between its partners has a strong impact on his psychological and mental health. The child becomes mentally balanced, strong and arrogant, free of anxiety or fear.

2. School activities:

There is no doubt that the school has a strong role in preparing the child for learning, good communication with the community, and the child’s participation and interaction in various school activities without any hesitation, anxiety or tension, in addition to the percentage of his educational attainment, one of the clear signs that have an impact on the child’s psychological and mental health.

3. Team play:

Team play has an important role in developing the child’s mental and personal abilities by playing with friends, peers, or even family members. Like parents and siblings, it contributes to teaching the child the principles of life and proper social interaction, which enhances his mental and psychological health.

4. The ability to express:

This means to allow the child to be free to express what is on himself and his mind, so that he can communicate with others and not hold back some of the things he thinks about, and the ability to describe everything that happens to him or that passes through him during his day.
For example: if he is being sexually harassed, he will not inform his parents unless he is able to express.

Accordingly, it is not appropriate for parents or teachers to prevent the child from expressing or speaking. Rather, to allow them to express everything they see or happen with them, beginning with giving them a chance to speak and then correcting mistakes and providing feedback to the child.

One of the biggest indicators of a child’s mental and psychological health is his ability to express opinions, this can only be done by giving his parents this opportunity, and the child grows up with a strong personality and a decision maker in the future.

The role of parents in promoting the child’s Mental and Psychological Health:

Parents have a great role in the psychological and mental health of their children. Psychiatrists are interested in guiding and teaching parents the effective methods of communication with their children and the best educational models that support the child’s personality, And not only for the parents, but also for the psychiatrist by providing recommendations to the educational authorities with the aim of making the educational process for the child as resource of support and development of his ability, not a source of psychological pressure and terror, which enhances the mental and psychological health of the child.

Here we mention a set of doctors’ instructions for parents in strengthening the psychological and mental health of their children:

– Completely avoiding violence, whether moral, verbal or physical, as each of them is a guarantor of demolishing mental health and the mentality of the child, Bad words, bullying, or negative characteristics that cause psychological harm to the child and keep the child captive to those words and expressions that inflict psychological harm on him. Such as describing him with the phrases “you are careless”, “you are not doing anything”, “you will not can access anything. ”“ You’re ugly ”,“ You’re stupid. ”

– Helping children develop their talents, and providing them with assistance in discovering their abilities, which contributes to enhancing confidence and completing the mental and psychological health of the child.

– Giving them independence within the guidance of parents in making decisions and giving them the opportunity to express their opinion and express their views.

– Defining all the duties and rights of the child, in addition to knowing the limits that he must stand for it in order to keep it clear that it should help him know and appreciate the positive things.

– Conversation and understanding with the child when any problem may arise, and dealing with it positively makes the child able to overcome problems and obstacles and see the positive consideration of the biggest problems and difficulties that he may goes through, which makes him grow up with enhancing mental health and a good mindset.

– Showing respect from parents for the child means listening to what he says, giving him an opportunity to participate in giving recommendations about the family, and thinking about what he had to say, and taking his words seriously would make him have a good picture about himself and increases his appreciation for his personality.

Conversely, criticism, mockery, or insufficient attention often affects negatively on the child’s self-respect and appreciation, to the point of slowly destroying it whenever the matter is repeated, which destroys the child’s self-confidence.

– Educate the child sexually, and teach him to respect his body and that of others, which makes him able to protect himself from any possible harm could be exposed to, defend himself, and report the matter.

Educational methods that destroy the mental and psychological health of the child:

1. Authoritarian education:

In this style, both parents or one of them are strict and firm in everything related to his child, so expressions such as “because I am your mother” abound in him, or “because you are young”, or “because I want that”. The child is rarely allowed to make a decision or think about solving his problems. This method makes a little friendliness and affection between the child and his parents, and he raises a rebellious child, defrauding his family and society.

2. Permissive breeding:

In this style, parents give a lot of affection to their children with little control and clear boundaries to the child. They allow their children to behave as they want without accountability or oversight. Children grow up in this pattern without responsibilities, and it increases their apathy, and affects their mental and mental health.

In the end, the parenting methods that parents choose to ensure the psychological and mental health of their child depends on the type of behavior they perform the child and his situation, his age, and taking into account the many surrounding circumstances.

This means that it is not right to follow the same method all the time. Rather, it depends on many different factors and varies from one child to another, but this does not preclude that there are basic rules of correct parenting that parents must know.

 

prepared by Dr. Fatin Mirza