Table of contents
A Guide and Caregivers to Support Your Child’s Mental Health
Why Your Kid Could Be Struggling
How it is an experience of empowerment for human beings
Cavalry Comes: When Rescuing Fam Is Your Family
Mental Health Resources in the GTA and Beyond
A Guide and Caregivers to Support Your Child’s Mental Health
Parents inevitably worry about their kids, with mental health worries among the more common. Whether your child is experiencing a stressful time such as exams or a split, or you notice signs such as changes in sleep, withdrawing socially, losing interest in activities they previously enjoyed, or frankly expressing anxiety or sadness, you want to know what you can do.
CMHO says 1 in 2 parents have expressed concern about their child’s anxiety, while 1 in 5 children and youth in Ontario will experience a mental health challenge at some point. Alarmingly, over a quarter of young people don’t know where to seek help.
In a recent article featuring the expertise of Laurie Marsan, Director of Clinical Services at the Child Development Institute (CDI), and Paul Van de Laar, Vice-President of Service Excellence at Strides Toronto, we gain some actionable insights on how you can help your child through tough times.
Why Your Kid Could Be Struggling
Young anxious or depressed people often say, “Why me?” It’s often a combination of factors, experts say:
Personality and Sensitivity: Highly sensitive children and teens experience and feel ideas deeply, which means that difficult things may have a stronger effect on their hearts and minds.
Life Situation: Economic well-being, social environment, lifestyle, coping mechanisms, culture, and sexual and gender identities.
Unmet emotional needs: When the needs of young people for emotional support and nurture are not met or supported consistently by their primary caregivers, it can have a detrimental effect on their mental health.
That includes social media’s impact, with The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) reporting that media and smartphone use are strongly linked to increased mental distress among youth. Hence, social media presents us with a very rose-tinted view of life, and this results in unrealistic expectations, anxiety, and depression.
A Different Kind of Different: Young people navigating their sense of identity—whether through race, culture, gender, sexuality, or all of the above—can wrestle intensely. Reading microaggressions can be extremely emotionally heavy.
How it’s an experience of empowerment for human beings.
Peer Support—Adolescents unable to relate to other adolescents are usually the ones with the lowest self-confidence. Continue to have positive contact with others, whether that be through support groups or by joining groups with other individuals who have gone through similar situations. It can lead to reduced feelings of loneliness and increase a sense of community.
Cavalry Comes: When Rescuing Fam Is Your Family
Check in Regularly: Sit down for open-ended, informal conversations with your child.
Normalize Mental Health: Remind them that everyone deals with mental health issues.
Cultivate Curiosity: Instead of suggesting solutions right away, try to listen. For youth, even being heard can be incredibly valuable.
So, when is it home care (even self-care), and when is it professional help?
Get help early: “If the mental health concerns are pervasive, meaning that they are compromising the day-to-day functioning of your child, you can certainly seek the help of a professional.” Just remember that waitlists can get long, so the sooner you get on, the better.
Destigmatize: Talk about mental health conditions and highlight that mental health is as important as physical health. It is a part of life, & we all face mental health challenges.
Excuse Any Culturally Sensitive Services: I search for culturally sensitive services when seeking therapy for your child. If something like sexual orientation or race matters, make sure to highlight that up front so that the therapist will have the appropriate skills and sensibility, she said.
Taking Care of Yourself
Take care of yourself: Helping a young person can be hard work. Mind your own mental health.
Seek help: Be it therapy or support groups, for you or your whole family. You need people you can trust to talk to and not be judged.
Creating a Safety Plan
For Self-Harm or Harm to Others: If you’re concerned about your child’s safety or that they might hurt someone else, collaborate on a personalized safety plan. Refers to coping skills and strategies, reasons for living, things that help during your stressful episodes, and crisis contact information.
Collaborative Approach: A GAP plan usually involves the young person themselves as well as professionals and family members working together.
Immediate Risk: If you are at immediate risk, contact emergency crisis services or go to your local emergency room. Call 911.
Maintaining Hope
Promote Hope: Help your child to see their situation in a positive light, and remind them that life is always changing.
Focus on Recovery: Finally, but not least, remind them that recovery is possible and life with mental health conditions can improve.
Mental Health Resources in the GTA and Beyond:
Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO): Resources for parents, caregivers, and youth are available on its site.
Kids Help Phone: A toll-free, anonymous phone and text service with support from professional counselors, a resource directory, and message boards where kids can talk with their peers.
One Stop Talk: Offers free one-off counselling sessions to under-17s across Canada, as well as possible referrals to further assistance.
Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario: 27 centers across the province that offer integrated mental health and substance use support for youth ages 12 to 25.
Teen Mental Health.
Help Ahead (Toronto): A hotline for child, youth, and family mental health and well-being resources.
What’s Up Walk-in: Virtual and in-person single-session counselling for children, youth, young adults, and their families at no cost.
The Child Development Institute (CDI) is committed to meeting the needs of children, youth and families by providing evidence-informed services
Strides Toronto: Provides a range of services to strengthen the mental, social, and physical health of babies, children, youth (aged 29 and younger), and their families.
Emergency Services: If you are at risk of hurting yourself or someone else or are in any form of immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services.
FAO
1. Parents: Watch for changes in your child’s mood or behavior and offer support early.
2. Professionals: Provide culturally sensitive, collaborative care for youth mental health.
3. Educators: Foster safe, supportive spaces to reduce anxiety and loneliness in students.
4. Community: Ensure accessible mental health resources and crisis support for children and families.
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