We are learning firsthand that mental health can come with all different warning signs and/or symptoms. You hear in the media and even social media what to look for and ways to detect it in adolescence or adults. They don’t warn you or even prepare you for the young ones and the early detection signs like they do for the older people in this world. It is so easy to look at a young child and say “what are you depressed about? What do you have to be worried about?” Just wait until you have a house and all the bills we have then come talk to us about stress and anxiety. It finally got bad enough that we sought out a professional to maybe help with what he isn’t sharing with us ( his parents). I can’t help to wonder if we knew a bit more about what to look for and found help a little quicker we may be in a whole different boat at this time. We may have practiced the wonderful ideas given to us by a professional that specialized in child hood anxiety. Please if you know anyone who you think is struggling especially young ones don’t hesitate to ask for help because the sooner the better!
Early Signs Of Someone Needing Help!
- More distant than normal or anti-social around friends and family.
- Not enjoying the activities, he/she did before.
- Keeping more secrets or being more secretive than normal.
- Brain fog or having troubles concentrating.
- Short to anger even when trying to do the smallest tasks.
- Grades start slipping or acting out at school.
- Even just always feeling like you are NOT good enough or your hard on yourself.
- Sleeping more or the feeling that you didn’t sleep good enough.
- Diet or appetite changes.
- Lack of personal hygiene.
Ideas To Help Someone Through Activities and Exercise!
- Aerobics: This can be as simple as jumping rope or the use of an elliptical machine. Get out take a small jog with your neighbor or parent. It’s all about getting the heart pumping and moving that oxygenated blood through the body.
- Hobbies: This was a suggestion given to us by a licensed counselor. It can be a meal the child cooks each week or even drawing and coloring. Give them something positive and constructive to do that is outside of their normal routine. It is difficult to manage something or fix an issue if you continue the same acts or don’t remove yourself from the issues.
- New Approach: If you wake up at the same time every day and just coast through your day to day routine it can be tedious and a little downing. Try waking up a little earlier even if it is only 10 minutes just to make that day a little different from the normal day to day.
- Accepting Failure: This is by far the hardest exercise to accomplish by far! Yes I said FAILURE. Just because you fail the first time on your set task don’t mean YOU failed at the outcome or the task got the better of you! Go back to the specific spot you feel that the wheels went off track. Sometimes even the beginning “but not always” the start of your task. Try a whole new approach even ask your peers or a friend because threat will never hurt.
- Sleep: You may feel like you don’t get a good nights rest and this may be true for a lot of people. We listened to the professional and we started these small but “large” changes and our sleep patterns improved and found it was easier to get through the day when relaxed and your body feel like you start as a fresh new day.
Never Feel Nobody is There!
Don’t every feel you are too good for asking or looked down upon for help! I believe we all need help one day and it is so much better to get it sooner than later. To keep it simple once we let all the bad in an accumulates the longer it takes to get out. We have all been given ONE and only ONE life and it is up to us to make the most out of it. We can spend the whole life given getting by or we can help and improve the family and friends that we were lucky enough to have received in this life. Kevin and Son love to hear from our public and let us know what we can do to help our small family dream we started from us too you! Drop a comment or email we will be waiting. This was advice from our professional and may not suit you or your family but we sure are enjoying the process and only take a professionals’ advice on your mental health.
Mental wellness is very important, and often there is not much attention paid to the mental health of young kids. But as with adults, doing outdoor activities can certainly help to lift your mood. Getting exercise and enjoying time outdoors, will also help to provide one with a better night’s sleep.
Having a hobby can provide one with an outlet for your creativity and imagination, which can boost self esteem. Thank you for sharing these great tips, which can be used for kids or all ages,as well as adults.
I can’t agree more, and the counselor said the same thing. Naturally when you become more active even if it’s only 15 minutes a day. She told us that extra bit of activity will help aid in sleeping habits that will in return help you sleep better. We appreciate you reading this and taking time to let us know your thoughts on this matter.
Kevin and Son
It is so easy to jump to assumptions and think children have nothing to worry about. You just don’t know what they are going through in life and school.
%100 and sometimes a “NEW DAY” means more to them than just words. Sometimes 30 minutes of preparation the night before to make the next day an easier start helps tremendously in there day. Thanks for writing and sharing we hope to hear more from you in the future!
Kevin and Son
To help childhood depression, I feel that as a parent you should be approachable. Many children carry anxieties because they feel that their life is in a rut that can not be changed. We as parents need to listen to our children. Sometimes parental expectations can lead to anxiety , also, if we expect our children to complete our choices of activities, we place stress upon them and they may become depressed because they feel that we will not listen to what they have to say. I believe that we must keep the channels of communication open and try to plan activities in line with their desires and not our own. Thanks for sharing this article to bring attention to this issue.
Can’t agree more and that is where we are at in this. We reached out because our youngster is 11 and all we want and pray for is them to be more successful than us. It hurts that all they see is negativity on television and social media, but I believe we are stronger than that. I know he bottles up a ton of emotion’s and truthfully, he is way smarter and stronger than I was at his age. I just wish he would look at accomplishments vs. the negatives but it is one small step at a time.
Kevin and Son
Love this! Very helpful information!
Thank you and We love the time you spent reading and commenting us through the journey. We hope now you know your thoughts and what we want to accomplish you read and look forward to choosing us for future ideas and topics.
Kevin and Son
Hi Kevin and Son,
This is such an important article to share with parents, teachers, and anyone struggling with mental health. Mental health is a serious issue that can affect anyone. I know it’s hard to imagine young children being affected by it, but for the past few years with COVID going on, it really has been an issue in young kids especially.
I am glad you highlighted the early warning signs, as they are often so subtle and overlooked. I truly believe that physical activity is a great way to relieve stress and anxiety and lift your spirits.
Thanks for sharing,
Jenny.
Thank you for the kind words and unfortunately, they are true! I tried handling it in house until our son “Landon” started getting more combative with his words. We ended up seeking advice from a professional and it is a slow process, but I hope he understands we are trying to help him.
Kevin
I as a grandmother am so glad that there is growing awareness of kids’ anxiety. Even in homes full of support and awareness, it is difficult to help our kids. Sometimes it is a simple thing that throws them, and sometimes a not so simple.
With the prevalence of handheld electronics, it is easy to spend all their downtime there. Parents need help and reassurance in determining an acceptable limit to the electronic world.
When good students start making poor grades, it is alarming to parents and difficult to figure out the cause when the child can not or will not articulate the issue. My grandson was teased because he always made good grades, and he wanted to be like his buddies. So guess what? He goofed off in class and soon had poor grades too.
Fortunately, they were able to work through this issue as he is old enough to talk and explain and think. But I am sure there will be other issues as he grows up. He is enjoying some special strength and dexterity and stamina classes through their local Y. This is giving him the self-confidence to be an individual. While this isn’t an outdoor pursuit, the baseball and football leagues he is in do their things outdoors. He is 10. He is a country kid and rides bikes and enjoys barndoor basketball shooting.
Interesting read Sami
I can’t agree more, and we tried so many activities that were suggested to us by professionals. We tried the cooking to fishing and everything imaginable. My son is 11 as of this year and he has lost interest in everything he use to love. We unfortunately told the same thing about this electronic world and were told to limit a little more than we do. I greatly appreciate your insight on this, and we don’t have a close Y but local gyms and his school track we may try.
Kevin and Son