When It Comes to Talking Mental Health With Kids, Parents Need Support

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Key TakeawaysFor parents, discussing mental health with your children can be intimidating.A recent survey found that the majority of parents in this situation need support in starting these conversations.

Key Takeaways

For parents, discussing mental health with your children can be intimidating.A recent survey found that the majority of parents in this situation need support in starting these conversations.

While systemic shortcomings are certainly a factor contributing to these numbers, it’s more important now than ever to advocate for the mental health of children and teens at home. In order for a young person to get the help or treatment they need, parents and caregivers need to have conversations around mental health.

The survey also found that only 43% of Americans say their family talked openly about mental health while growing up.

“Mental health dialogue has a real opportunity with the current culture willing to have frank conversations and demystify and destigmatize mental illness,” says psychiatristVenkata Jonnalagadda, MD. “It is great that people, especially parents, are more open to starting this conversation—one they recognized they too would have wanted as youth.”

For parents looking to end the cycle of silence aroundmental healthand hold crucial and at times life-saving conversations with their children, there are some helpful strategies to try.

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Starting the Conversation

Kate Tunstall, a mother of two who writes about parenting on her blogRefined Prose, reminds that children can differ greatly in their responses to navigating mental health.

“It can be very tricky getting the balance right between offering support without prying,” Tunstall says.

Asking a child about their day, their friend group or their future goals can be easy openers, but they don’t always do the trick. When her oldest daughter, Pixie, is reluctant to talk face-to-face, Tunstall suggests going for a walk or a drive. This often takes pressure off the situation and makes conversation easier and more accessible.

To promote open lines of communication,Lana Stenner, an author and mother of five, also recommends spending time outdoors, as well as DIY pet therapy. Showing a pet extra love and attention together, or even attending a goat yoga class together, can provide opportunity for connection.

Venkata Jonnalagadda, MDIt is great that people, especially parents, are more open to starting this conversation—one they recognized they too would have wanted as youth.

Venkata Jonnalagadda, MD

It is great that people, especially parents, are more open to starting this conversation—one they recognized they too would have wanted as youth.

When that conversation is flowing, Jonnalagadda urges parents to listen without judgment or interruption. Try to maintain a neutral expression while still offering compassion, she says, regardless of how shocking the revelations may be. And keep in mind that you don’t need to know all the answers.

“It is okay to say, ‘I don’t know the answers, but we can find them together,'” Jonnalagadda says. “Seek out your child’s pediatrician or a mental health provider.”

In seeking out those answers, Jonnalagadda recommends steering children away from chatrooms and online forums. “Lean on trusted sites like theAmerican Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,” she says.

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Introducing a Journaling Practice

Kate Tunstall, ParentWhen she doesn’t feel like talking or isn’t ready, I’m so glad that she can also turn to her journal as a place of comfort.

Kate Tunstall, Parent

When she doesn’t feel like talking or isn’t ready, I’m so glad that she can also turn to her journal as a place of comfort.

“She was young at the time, perhaps only four or five, so naturally it was a bit of a crude exercise to begin with,” she says. “But this is one of the joys of journaling—much of the value is in the process, rather than the result.”

“Pixie knows she can always come to us, but when she doesn’t feel like talking or isn’t ready, I’m so glad that she can also turn to her journal as a place of comfort,” Tunstall says.

What This Means For YouStarting a conversation around mental health with your child need not be intimidating. Introducing a distraction like a pet, a change in environment or a journaling practice can relieve pressure and help open the lines of communication.

What This Means For You

Starting a conversation around mental health with your child need not be intimidating. Introducing a distraction like a pet, a change in environment or a journaling practice can relieve pressure and help open the lines of communication.

Parents Think Teens Won’t Admit Mental Health Struggles, Poll Shows

4 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.AAP-AACAP-CHA Declaration of a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. American Academy of Pediatrics. Updated October 2021.Geiger AW, Davis L.A growing number of American teenagers – particularly girls – are facing depression.Pew Research Center.Bastiampillai T, Sharfstein SS, Allison S.Increase in US suicide rates and the critical decline in psychiatric beds.JAMA. 2016;316(24). doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16989On Our Sleeves® Survey. Nationwide Children’s Hospitals. Published 2022.

4 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.AAP-AACAP-CHA Declaration of a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. American Academy of Pediatrics. Updated October 2021.Geiger AW, Davis L.A growing number of American teenagers – particularly girls – are facing depression.Pew Research Center.Bastiampillai T, Sharfstein SS, Allison S.Increase in US suicide rates and the critical decline in psychiatric beds.JAMA. 2016;316(24). doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16989On Our Sleeves® Survey. Nationwide Children’s Hospitals. Published 2022.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

AAP-AACAP-CHA Declaration of a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. American Academy of Pediatrics. Updated October 2021.Geiger AW, Davis L.A growing number of American teenagers – particularly girls – are facing depression.Pew Research Center.Bastiampillai T, Sharfstein SS, Allison S.Increase in US suicide rates and the critical decline in psychiatric beds.JAMA. 2016;316(24). doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16989On Our Sleeves® Survey. Nationwide Children’s Hospitals. Published 2022.

AAP-AACAP-CHA Declaration of a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. American Academy of Pediatrics. Updated October 2021.

Geiger AW, Davis L.A growing number of American teenagers – particularly girls – are facing depression.Pew Research Center.

Bastiampillai T, Sharfstein SS, Allison S.Increase in US suicide rates and the critical decline in psychiatric beds.JAMA. 2016;316(24). doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16989

On Our Sleeves® Survey. Nationwide Children’s Hospitals. Published 2022.

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