Advice for Parents

The first line to supporting your children is by supporting yourself. By valuing your own wellbeing, you are not only in a much stronger position to support and value your children’s wellbeing, but also providing excellent modelling for them to look up to. The top ways you can support your own mental health are:

Talk openly about your mental health to friends, family, a mental health professional or school.
Maintain a healthy diet, keep active and get enough sleep (as hard as we all know this may be with children!)
Keep learning. Try something new or discover an old interest. Learning or developing a skill will help you become more confident.
Take notice. Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

How to support your children

As well as promoting the four kep tips above, there are some additional ways you can support your children’s mental health.

Take time to connect with your children, notice their norms and enjoy their interests. Doing this will not only create more confident children, but also help you to notice when something may not seem quite right.

Think about screen time and phone usage. Phones and social media, although a great way for children to interact with their peers and provide them an area of responsibility, can have a large impact on sleep and a negative impact on our mental health. Promote a change in them by thinking about your own screen time. When we disconnect from our screens, we also provide a fantastic opportunity to notice our children and promote the four tips above.