Parents and Mental Health
(Muhammad Hamza Malik, Rawalpindi)
A person might have a mental illness due to several reasons. It can be caused by anything like a brain injury, biological factors, a traumatic experience, or any other reason. But one of the major reasons for having a mental illness is linked to parenting. Parents play a very active role in determining the well-being of their children. The genes inherited from the parents can be a cause or it could be due to the unhealthy environment provided by the parents.
People don’t realize how big of a responsibility it is to raise a child. Their every action affects the mental health of the child. This can be proven from the results of a study conducted in 2012. According to this study, children coming from single/divorced families were more likely to be suffering from ADHD (known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) compared to other types of families.
Many parents which suffer from some mental health issue are likely to impact their child’s mental health negatively and this is an important issue because it is said that one out of every four children lives with a parent with a mental disorder. These parents don’t actively work on improving their own mental health and their kids suffer as a result.
The behavior of parents also plays a crucial role in determining the mental fitness of a child. A household where the married couple engages in violence may leave a scar in the child’s mind. If we consider the example of a Pakistani household, here, most children are brought up in a way that they are not given the comfort to open up and talk about their feelings to their parents. This results in the building up of emotions and eventually leads to unhealthy mental health.
So the best way for parents to help improve their child’s mental health is first to take care of their own mental health along with providing space where the child can express himself/herself comfortably. Building a strong relationship with the child and fulfilling all the emotional and physical needs are very necessary in this regard. These are just some basic things parents can do to minimize the risk of a mental illness.
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