How comfortable are you with discussing mental illness? Do you think your comfort with talking about mental health disorders would be higher if a trusted adult had provided you with age-appropriate information when you were younger? At Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health, near Wilmington, North Carolina, we think it’s important for children and adults to understand mental health and feel safe talking about it.
Reasons Why Kids Need to Know About Mental Health
You might feel like mental illness is a subject that is too heavy for children. It’s important to remember, however:
- Mental illness often starts before adulthood. Half of all lifetime mental illness begins before the age of 14 and 75 percent starts before the age of 24. By talking about mental health early and often, you are:
- Teaching it to them is a topic you are open to discussing
- Giving them vocabulary to discuss concerns they might have about their own mental health
- Equipping them to support people in their lives with mental illness.
- They will meet people with mental illness. Mental health disorders are so common that it is pretty much guaranteed that your child will encounter someone with a mental health disorder before they reach age 18. Mental illness is found in:
- 1 in 5 adults in the United States
- 1 in 7 youth between the ages of 6 and 17
- Things we understand are generally less scary to us. If your child encounters someone in your family, their school, or the community who has a mental illness, having accurate information can help them to respond with compassion and kindness, rather than fear.
- They may have a genetic predisposition toward certain mental health disorders. If a child has a parent or sibling with a mental health condition, they may be at increased risk of also developing a mental health disorder. It is as important for them to know if they have a family member with a mental health diagnosis as it is for them to know if there is someone in their family with a history of cancer or heart disease, because having accurate information can facilitate early diagnosis and more effective treatment. Some of the mental health conditions that are known to have genetic links include:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Major depression
- Schizophrenia
- Compulsive disorders
- It might save their life. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. Knowing they can talk to you about mental health concerns might make it easier for them to ask for help if they are experiencing suicidal thoughts.
How to Discuss Mental Illness with Children
When you’re teaching small children about mental health, it is important to keep it simple.
- Build on what they already know. Kids understand physical illness. You can explain that some sicknesses make your body ill, and some make your brain work differently. Being sick doesn’t mean a person is dangerous or bad. It just means they might have times when they don’t feel good.
- There are medicines to help the brain feel better. Kids know about medicines to help their bodies feel better. When people take medicine for a mental illness, they might only need to take it for a little while, like when they get a cold. Sometimes, a person with mental or physical health concerns has to take medicine for a really long time.
- There are doctors who take care of sick brains. When their body gets sick, your child sees their pediatrician. To keep their teeth healthy, your child sees a dentist. Sometimes people visit a therapist or a psychiatrist to help their brain get healthy or stay healthy.
A Growing Conversation
As your child grows up, you will need to periodically revisit the topic of mental health and provide additional information that is appropriate to their developmental level and helps them to build their mental health vocabulary. You can also teach them coping skills related to managing stress and emotions. Let their questions guide the conversation.
Key concepts you can explain simply:
- Depression: Depression is more than feeling sad. It happens when someone feels deep or frequent sadness that makes daily life harder. They may feel tired, lose interest in things they usually enjoy, or believe negative things about themselves that aren’t true.
- Anxiety: Anxiety involves intense worry or fear, even when there’s no clear danger. Children with anxiety may feel nervous in their bodies—such as having a fast heartbeat or upset stomach—and may benefit from calming strategies like slow breathing, taking a break, or talking about what’s worrying them.
- Bipolar disorder: Bipolar disorder causes shifts between very high energy or excited moods and very low or sad moods. These changes are greater than typical ups and downs and don’t always match what’s happening around the person. During these times, decision-making may be harder, and behavior may seem very different than usual.
- Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia can make it difficult for a person to know what’s real. They may see or hear things others don’t or hold beliefs that seem unusual. These experiences can be confusing or frightening and may make it hard to trust others.
Talking to Adolescents About Mental Health
As your child moves into their teenage years, they may be ready for more in-depth conversations about mental illness. Your child’s school might also offer mental health education, such as NAMI’s Ending the Silence curriculum, to teach them about mental health with factual, evidence-based information. As a parent, you might also consider completing the Youth Mental Health First Aid training to give you more tools for conversations with young people around mental health, and you can work with your child on more advanced coping skills.
At Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health, we want young people and their families to have the tools they need to build happy, healthy lives and to recognize right away when they may need professional support. Our program offers acute care for serious mental health concerns in adolescents and adults.
