Balanced mental health helps a child achieve good mental, emotional and physical growth. If the required emotional support is missing, it can harm the child’s overall wellbeing with long-lasting effects. Since one can’t point out exactly where and when the damage occurred, the signs of this unintentional act can be challenging to identify and overcome. At times, parents are unable to comprehend their child’s emotions and feelings which makes it difficult for them to retort to their cognitive needs. For instance, a child has been complaining that he or she is upset about a friend at school but the parent brushes it off as a childhood game instead of attending and helping the child cope with the issue. As a result of this behaviour, over time, the child begins to feel that his or her problems are not as important for their parents and stops seeking support.
As a responsible guardian, one must take the time to understand the role played by mental health in your child’s overall well-being. Untreated emotional needs can lead to more grave health problems having long-term consequences.
Below mentioned are some of the jeopardies of disregarding a child’s mental health needs:
Deteriorating of mental health problems: Mental health needs in children like unconditional love from family, the urge to be raised in a secure environment or ample opportunity to socially interact do not get better on their own. In order to fasten the process of recovery, it is important to address their need on a timely basis. For instance, unattended anxiety-like low-self-esteem may intensify to panic attacks, and failing to address the same can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Enduring physical health challenges: A healthy and balanced lifestyle can be achieved only by a fine amalgamation of one’s emotional and physical requirements. One needs to be mentally fit to be physically fit. Intertwining our physical and mental health lends us with a recipe for balanced health care. To maintain that stability, love, security, and acceptance should be at the core of family life. For parents, it is extremely important to make their child understand that their love is boundless and does not depend on his/her success or any accomplishments. Parents who do not notice the child’s emotional needs tend to indirectly abandon their physical health too causing them to fall prey to multiple ailments in the long run.
Instability in your daily life: Being unable to meet the child’s emotional needs can make it challenging to cope with everyday life. It can hinder the child’s ability to study, sleep, eat and play. Anxiety in children can make communication tougher, making it even more difficult to treat mental ailments and address the issue.
Inability to nurture emotions: Never having understood the importance of their own emotions, these kids will grow up into adults who too will fail to nurture emotions in their children. Hence, effective treatment is necessary to help people of all ages to overcome the effects of emotional neglect in the short term and avert future complications.
A child’s emotional state of mind must never be unnoticed since their mental wellbeing is just as essential as their physical health. Mental health in kids is crucial since it tends to impact how your child thinks, feels, acts, learns, and the way they handle stress, and relate to others. Hearing out about the child’s innate emotional needs will help them to follow good mental hygiene and develop resilience. This will further help them cope with whatever life has in store for them and turn out to be mature and stable adults.
The writer is Mental & Emotional Wellbeing Coach, Founder – Let Us Talk.