Navigating parenthood and your child’s mental health

Finding one’s feet in parenthood can be extremely difficult in an ever-changing world, particularly with regards to your child’s well-being. It is this of utmost importance to understand and destigmatise mental illnesses or disorders that may occur in children as stigma is rudimentary to the underutilisation of health services that could potentially aid in assisting parents to better understand and extend help to their offspring.
The prevalence of mental health problems in children is not limited to our western counterparts, as statistics have shown in systematic review done by Dr Anisha Sodha, alongside other prominent experts in the pediatric field in March 2012, that mental health problems exist among children and adolescents between ages zero and 16 in sub-Saharan African.
The studies have further gone to show that one in seven children and adolescents have significant difficulties, with one in 10 (9.5%) having a specific psychiatric disorder. Additionally, the study cites that the socio-demographic directly correlates with the psychopathology of children, meaning that children in areas of great deprivation are placed at a greater risk when it comes to their psychopathology.
Furthermore, it is importance to note that there are various mental illnesses that children can be found to struggle with and behaviour parents can look out for to intervene before their condition worsens. As much as it may be difficult to detect mental illness during childhood development due to the natural process of childhood development being metamorphic, there are distinct as well as nuanced behaviours children display when suffering from mental illness; be it depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or even schizophrenia.
“It is important that parents take the time to educate themselves on mental illness so that they can be aware of the signs and know how to help your child. Their cries for help can be nuanced but it is your responsibility to be in constant communication with your child to understand them better. Listen when your child communicates with you, do not just hear them,” advised Enid Deku, a parent whose daughter struggled with depression and anxiety for six years.
The signs may range from abrupt and intense mood changes to changes in eating habits, difficulty concentrating, and changes in academic performance. Sometimes it may even be as extreme as hurting oneself or talking about hurting oneself, which is normally a cry for intervention from loved ones.
“I would encourage parents to see therapists themselves to better understand themselves in order to help their children in a more efficient many. When I knew I had to intervene was when I witnessed my daughter an anxiety attack in front of me and I had no idea what I should do in that moment. I felt helpless, a feeling no parent wants to feel in such a moment,” Deku said.