Modern society has created an environment where nearly one in five children struggle with stress and anxiety. What can be done?-By Malibu Kothari

Mental health has been an increasing issue in Canadian workplaces, but it’s not an isolated problem in Canadian society. The next generation coming up, currently in school, is having a hard time, to put things mildly. Particularly as schools seek to recover normalcy following the pandemic years, Canada’s children and especially adolescents are reporting extreme levels of stress and anxiety.

Somewhere between 14% and 25% of Canadian youths are estimated to have diagnosable mental health challenges, according to figures from the Mental Health Commission of Canada. This is manifesting in behavioral problems, substance abuse, school attendance issues, and mental breakdowns during what should be positive and formative years for the nation’s children. Plus, since mental health problems can go on for years before an official diagnosis is rendered, thousands are suffering unnecessarily.

What can be done to help? There are many things that can be done, but will take a concentrated and coordinated effort to make things better. Here, some of the tactics that are known to work will be examined, with an emphasis on the roles parents, educators, and mental health professionals can play in building resilience and promoting positive mental health in pre-teens and adolescents.

Parents and primary caregivers provide valuable mental health supports

Parents represent one of the first resources most children turn to when struggling with mental health. While family dynamics can and do play a part in mental wellness, in many cases it is parents or other caregivers stepping into a parenting role that are on the frontlines for a child struggling with their mental well-being. Children are looking to the adults in their lives for guidance, support, or models to follow to help get through what’s going on.

It is not unusual for parents or caregivers to be caught off guard by the intensity of a child’s emotions or the physical symptoms of their mental state. Brushing feelings aside – especially with teenagers who may have been loathe to reach out for help in the first place – can have a negative impact. Instead, parents can provide valuable support by simply listening. Helping children feel heard and seen can go a long way toward taking the panic of “What am I feeling? What’s going on with me?” out of the equation. Researchers note that this opens up a space for discussing the next level of solutions.

The next level of solutions may be mutual exploration of what mental wellness means for that particular child, or what coping strategies are available to help manage anxiety and stress that may be manifesting as physical maladies. Where more serious challenges seem to be present – or where home life dynamics are a contributing factor – parents can provide support by helping children connect with professionals. Showing a child the way to reach out to a counselor, download a mental health app, or how to start a formal evaluation process can be the best way for a caregiver to model mental health self-care and exemplify taking mental health seriously. This kind of lesson, even if it leads to an unwanted diagnosis, can be a valuable life-long piece of learning.

Educators help ensure children develop adequate coping strategies and self-care skills

Beyond what parents can do, educators also have a role to play in helping children and teens build mental health self-care skills and strategies for personal resilience. They can do this by building mental wellness activities into classroom routines, monitoring students for signs that mental health support is needed, and serving as a resource for children and families. By building proven mental wellness tactics into regular classroom routines, educators can help normalize self-care and attention to mental wellbeing. They can give children and teens the vocabulary to describe emotions and sensations that may be confusing or overwhelming. They can also reinforce the message that to kids that, “You are not alone, and there is help.”

For parents and families who are overwhelmed, educators can also serve as a resource hub, connecting students and parents with school and community resources. Particularly for immigrant families who may be coming from countries without a robust mental health system, what Canada has to offer can be a lot to process. Yet by highlighting what’s available and steering families toward resources that may carry no out of pocket cost, educators can ensure children are getting the care they need and the opportunity to build the right strategies for life-long mental wellness.

Mental health professionals support those most at risk

Mental health professionals represent a third leg of the support stool for children and teens most at risk. While classroom teachers and educational administrators often have much more experience than parents when it comes to working with kids with mental health challenges, mental health is still not their primary area of expertise. In some cases, a referral to a mental health professional can be the extra support that’s needed to bring a child back to a stable state of wellness.

Making referrals early and often, and having parents be a part of the process, can alleviate a great deal of potential stigma and fear around visiting mental health professionals. If Canada as a whole can make it a normal thing – as normal as visiting the dentist or getting an annual physical – then fewer children who need help will fall through the cracks. Plus, when symptoms of major psychiatric conditions can be spotted and appropriately treated early on, it can help kids avoid the perils of self-medicating with alcohol or drugs. As an added benefit, when children and teens see that they can control their symptoms, with training or with treatments, it creates an enormous sense of urgency over the situation, which researchers have shown can improve life-long perceptions of adequacy, ability, and potential to achieve.

Closing thoughts

Even before the Pandemic Years, mental health challenges were on the rise among Canadian youth. Now, as many seek to recover from schooling disruptions and the pressures and distractions of modern life, more needs to be done to promote positive mental health and self-care skills. By working together, parents, educators, and mental health professionals can make a real difference in reducing the impact of mental health challenges and encouraging life-long wellbeing.