Importance of promoting mental well being:
Mental and physical health is so closely interlinked that deterioration in the mental condition leads to a worsening prognosis in the physical sphere. A patient with a poor mental health condition is more prone to diseases like heart conditions, cerebral conditions, onset of cancer, and diabetes and also asthma. The tendency to become victims of drug abuse and smoking also increases in these children.
The present scenario:
There has been a drastic increase of mental conditions in the younger sections of society and they are suffering from depression and anxiety which has registered a 70% rise in the last two decades. Incidences of infliction of deliberate injury to oneself has also risen among the young children with a reported incidence of 1 in every fifteen children being affected. If this situation is left unattended it will cause irreversible damage in adulthood and affect the quality of life and employment within the afflicted population who will face possible alienation from society. Intervention strategies will be needed during the transition from adolescence to become adults.
The Mental Health Foundation (MHF) has researched all aspects of the problem and identified areas where support and intervention is needed and this is summarized in this outline document.
The importance of mental health issues in the growing adult:
A balanced mind is needed to ensure emotional stability, self actualization, and self realization. The balanced adult is a creative individual with a strong sense of purpose and having the intellectual capacity to think on matters like spirituality, socioeconomic independence, self worth, with an ability to stay alone and have feelings for other people in their surroundings. They like to play and have reliance and adaptability to adjust to changing circumstances with a desire to become healthy adults.
The setback of poor mental health issues in the growing adult:
A poor mental condition in childhood leads to the development of a maladjusted adult with impaired interpersonal skills and a tendency to becoming social misfits who lead a secluded life. They develop unpredictable behavior patterns and do not have the ability to hold a permanent job for long.
The threat perceptions of poor mental conditions:
Certain socio economic conditions trigger the onset of mental problems in children. Single child, or children living in disturbed or very large families, children with poorly educated parents who are economically deprived are susceptible subjects. A MHF survey found four categories of vulnerable child population. The could broadly be grouped as mentally impaired children, homeless, or adopted children and lastly child offenders. The other class identified by the MHF were children with learning difficulties, refugee children, children seeking shelter and children in child care centers. A child needs love, trust, understanding, ambitions, positivism, self acceptance and adaptability to grow into mature healthy adults. An identification of intervention methodologies after a thorough research on the various aspects of mental development and impairment needs to be adequately funded. The focus of research would be on reduction of threats and preventing the occurrence through the framing of government policy documents.
The approach to dealing with poor mental conditions:
Due to a proliferation of terminology for the same or similar mental condition and associated issues there is a communication breakdown between professionals and parents. This needs to be standardized in order to eliminate any communication gap occurring in spoken and written communications while dealing with mental health and emotional well being of children.
Mental health is the condition of psychological well being in the mental states which are described as mental illness and emotional distress. There is no clear definition existing which determines the point where the changeover from mental health to ill-health occurs. This is due to the reason that a behavior pattern which is seemingly normal in a particular circumstance can be difined as abnormal when viewed from a different socio cultural perspective. However the road definition given above serves to demarcate a range of mental conditions where intervention is necessary, and also identifies the environment and the relationships of the factors like social and cultural influences wher the child is growing. This broad definition will be used in the context of this discussion.
Mental health promotion and prevention
There are five fundamental elements which need to be addressed for an all encompassing coverage during planning and promotion of a mental health assessment and intervention framework . Similarly five areas have been identified which cause barriers to good mental health development. The contrasting elements of quality of the environment on one hand and adverse environmental qualities which affect children, the factor of self respect versus self depreciation, factors of emotional nurturing versus emotional neglect, ability for adaptability verses stress formation due to lack of adaptability and lastly social acceptance versus social alienation all contribute to forming a framework for a policy of promoting mental health at macro, meso and micro levels. Government polices comprise the macro level, The implementation of these polices locally make up the meso level and working with a family on implementation of particular policies comprise the micr4o level. The influence of the environment and ecosystem on the emotional well being of children together with the socio-cultural and historical perspectives during making of a policy for children makes the policy an all encompassing one.
Psychological wellbeing in children and young people
The acronym SEAL means the Social & Emotional Aspects of Learning. This was a major step in promoting the mental health of children studying in the primary and secondary level in schools. The concept was formalised after in-depth study of the maturity levels and intelligence of the child to draw up a short term plan with a focus of arriving at an intervention solution. The focused aim of a SEAL program is to deliver a solution which is within the scope of the syllabus as the curriculum was designed after a lot of deliberations by subject experts and the introduction of a SEAL program would ensure an overall healthy development for the child. SEAL defined the stress that should on the particular social and emotional which were deficient in the child in order to make the child more adaptable to the socio-emotional context in his educational progress. In order to help the parents the programme was suitably elaborated to help the development of the child at home. The psycho-educational approach promoted by SEAL stressed the importance of laying the foundations of emotional and social competence and then creating the environments to support positive mental health and psychological wellbeing. The approach could be criticized for focusing on building children‟s competencies rather than seeking changes in the environment or context and for not sufficiently considering the socio-cultural influences of family, home school and local community on the social and emotional outcomes for children. Nevertheless, the initiative has encouraged schools to create emotionally healthy environments by adopting the SEAL approach. Furthermore, emotional well-being has been used as one of the core themes to determine whether a school can be considered to have achieved the healthy school standard.
Evidence-based interventions and practice
SEAL programs were based on evidence and all interventions and treatments that were suggested was only after observation of the child in the classroom and at home by trained counsellors who after deliberations on the evidence collected made specific recommendations for a particular child. SEAL recommendations were valued by professionals and were very helpful for parents. It gave guidance on the conditions like ADHD, depression, anxiety and unfounded fears or phobias and also recommended lines of approach for trauma related stress in children. It also recommended the interventional steps and the treatment methods for particular children who had been under the teams critical observation.
The young child first learns to trust his parents and the main aim in elementary education is focussed to a single goal to teach him how to love his school so that he feels connected to the school environment and loves like it is his second home. He is made to develop a close bond with the class teacher and any other adult whom he can look up to and depend in his times of difficulties. This aspects of personality development are very critical in the growing child. The teacher must feel responsible not only towards the child but also his parents with whom he must develop a comfortable interrelationship. Children are normally taking hints from their parents behaviour when it comes to establishing bonds. It is therefore important for the parent to show the child that the teacher and parent bond of trust is well established. This will help the child to follow the parents and start trusting whatever the teacher says and teaches. The behaviour of the principal as the figure of authority is established in the first meeting with parents and through parent teacher meeting which are held every month. The meetings are held in an informal atmosphere over coffee and communications help the parent to play a positive influence on the child’s development and progress. The school also continues to build up the link through posting personal messages in the weekly newsletters and bulletin boards in the class rooms and hall which helps the school to reinforce the feeling in the student that he is a loved and wanted human being who is much valued in the school community.
Adapting to change.
Children love to follow a routine as they are acomfortable when they know in advance what the hay to do next. Sometimes children who are facing stressful situations at home or in the school may react negatively to change. Even very small change upset them like if a class teacher changes or a shift of the seating in the class or a new baby who has entered his family. Teachers like parents to reports an small change at home which they feel is affecting the child. The child can be made to become a part of the change process and this will help to become less tence whenever a change occurs. By involving a child in discussions about a possible change in scenario whether at home or at school makes it easier for him to adjust as he is in the know about what will happen and how it will happen and he is reassured and able to cope with the situation in a better way. .
If a child his helped by being told about the things which have been left unchanged then he is able to keep his mental balance and also feel that he is in control of the situation.
Children need to feel that he is an important part of the school community. The teacher can do this in many ways which helps the child to contribute to a class initiative in whatever way he can. For example a child can be made to feel important when the teacher takes the effort to put homework in small folders inscribed with the students name. An effort like creation of a bulletin board where every child can contribute with their personal experiences enriches the class room environment and promotes discussions. Activities like forming a Green Club helps in making himself a wanted member of the school community and also makes him feel that his contributions in the activity is making a significant difference. In this way he moves on from taking part in school activities to taking part in neighbourhood activity as well.
Recognition.
Children have a need to feel loved and wanted as an individual. The positive feedback he receives from his parents, school friends, school teachers due to his behaviour and achievements helps to reinforce his self worth. His academic performance and class work when recognised and appreciated makes him happy. A constant praise for achievements in school sends out a signal that this a desirable situation and the child tries his to live up to everybody’s expectations. Before reprimanding a child it needs to be shown that good behaviour is more desirable and praised. It is seen that this approach makes a delinquent child or an uncooperative child mend his behaviour. Sometimes a child is praised for doing his homework correctly this will make him try to do his assignments correctly as far as possible. As an extreme step in correcting undesirable behaviour the school principal and counsellors call the child to their office. An interactive situation is set up where the child is made to participate and tries to give reasons for the particular recurring undesirable behaviour. Before entering into any communication with the child it is advisable to make him feel important due to his inherent qualities. There is a chance that this may lead him to change his ways.
Resiliency and accomplishment.
The power to fight back from the brink of defeat is a very important part of the character which must be developed in order to succeed in life. This is called resilient behaviour and this needs to be reinforced as a essential quality which is appreciated and loved. The method of reshaping a strategy which has not succeeded and then continuing on the predetermined path is something which needs to be taught. Like continuing with the race after falling down this needs the formation of a new resolve and is something different from sheer grit. It has been proved through research that children with the same risk exposures differ in their ability to bounce back because of differences in their resiliency. The teacher must demonstrate that a small defeat should not lead to frustration and it is in no way considered as a personal failure. Different approaches to solving a particular problem situation can be taught by the teacher. The necessary focus to see the bigger picture and readjust and try again to solve a failed attempt is very essential. A child can only then feel responsible for his actions and also discover his personal worth. When a child comes to know that whatever he has achieved is through his own efforts and not through any help received then he rediscovers his own self and values himself much more. They feel that they are in control of the situation. Children lacking this quality become more dependent and do not want to take any responsibility for anything they do because the lack the element of control over the situation.
This character trait is very important for success in studies and also in social interactions. The child needs to be taught how to define a target they want to achieve and how to proceed towards achieving it through forming strategies and bringing in all his resources and how to monitor his progress from time to time and also how to know when it is time to get outside help as solutions need further inputs which he does not have.
Addressing Mental Health Problems
The above factors which have been found to be useful for every child leads a child to achieve a good mental health and also make their approach to their life problems more efficient. It is also important to keep a watchful eye over the growing child. Children having more acute problems need to be looked after more intensely. The levels at which a school can support the child’s need have been identified to be in three levels especially in giving support to creating a better learning environment so that children can be encouraged to follow good practices in maintaining good mental health. The environment must foster a self respect and respect for other students and also help them to communicate with everyone and not to withdraw into a shell. Secondly the programs and syllabus must be such that they are taught that bullying, getting into conflicts are not desirable conducts and becoming socially adept is a trait which is desirable and needs to be developed. Lastly the school takes steps to help students to learn how to cope with their learning disabilities, depression, troubled feelings, and sadness at personal losses. . Some schools deal with communities which are prone to higher risks or which have experiences of recent traumatic happenings which have triggered a higher incidence of mental health issues amongst their children. But when we look at the bigger picture of elementary schools across the country we find that the incidence of mental health problems have sharply increased.
The main problems which are found to be occurring commonly are those like bipolar diseases, OCD, Impulsive behaviour, depression, ADHD and other problems. Teachers must know how to detect a more severe problem by tackling it at the earliest possible opportunity and also know when a problem is beyond their control. This becomes a very difficult task as the young children often cannot clearly tell what is troubling them and seem apparently normal and well adjusted . Also there is a great degree of resemblance among different types of disorders. Repetitive behaviour, anxiety, and great reluctance to try out newer approaches are similar to victms of Asperger syndrome and OCD. Mental health problems are very often interconnected for example many disorders can lead to a general depression. Children can hide the symptom of depression making it very difficult to detect. Whenever a mental health problem manifests in a child it can be detected through a change in daily habits and a reluctance to intermingle. The academic performance is also greatly affected. All these initial symptoms if manifested require the immediate intervention by trained professionals
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