Tips to Prevent Burnout in Children and Improving their Mental Health
- posted: Apr. 12, 2023
Just like adults, children can become overwhelmed and unable to function effectively due to stress and anxiety. In previous articles, I spoke about being a non-judgmental listener. As parents, we need to create a safe space for our children to want to share their feelings and struggles. If we can reduce children's stress and anxiety, we are on the road to improving their mental health.
One might think a child has no worries or stressors in their life. We need to understand children are growing, evolving, maturing, and transitioning from childhood to adolescence. There is also the pressure of school, chores, peers, family, social media, and many others, etc. I know there are daily struggles of adulthood, we all have struggles of our own, but we have an adult maturity that allows us to have some sort of control over our choices and environment. On the other hand, children do not have that perspective. Children are only now learning about their feelings and what works best for them. As a result of this, children are often exhausted and quickly overwhelmed when faced with emotionally challenging situations.
Most times, when a child "acts out" it is a cry for support and help. Recently, I wrote on the topic of High-functioning depression in adults, however, many children show no signs of emotional difficulties and seem to be handling situations in their life very well, without the signs of being overwhelmed. We may miss these signs of our child struggling or needing emotional support because of their high-functioning capacity.
Remember, a child who excels academically and seems to have their life together, also has the same struggles as those who are visibly struggling. Academically successful kids can become overwhelmed too!
Parents set expectations and values they want their children to have. For example, you want your child to get all A's on their exam, and if they don't it evokes frustration in the parent if the child cannot meet such standards. Now the child is feeling this pressure of needing to get good grades to avoid frustrating their parents. But, parents fail to understand that they need to actively be in their child's life, guiding and teaching them daily. How many of us take time out of our busy schedules to spend some time with our children? Whether it is helping them study for an upcoming exam, or finding out about their struggles and what is bothering them. If we are actively involved in our child's life, we are more likely to prevent these extra stressors and pressures on them. Many children may seemingly handle these pressures well, however, there is always a breaking point. And if they reach that breaking point, most times we cannot predict how a child will react.
Burnout can affect anyone, whether they have a high or low tolerance for stress. Oftentimes, a child will feel frustrated when they are barely meeting the expectations put upon them. How does a child become overwhelmed? Expectations laid out to a child may have them feeling they need to be perfect and live up to these expectations set upon them, and if they don't they can feel worthless. According to David Schwartz, " It is the idea of perfectionism that can make teens unable to truly appreciate their accomplishments."
Children usually shut down emotionally and lose their interest to continue making an effort. For example, you can see this in children who have no interest in doing tasks assigned to them and would rather sleep all day or lock themselves away.
Burnout in children can:
- Be damaging and self-destructive for kids
- Make a child feel less confident and worthy
- Lose interest in activities at home and school
- Cause them to isolate and be less open to their parents/family
Parents can help their child prevent Burnout by:
- Be more understanding and be a non-judgemental listener.
- Be sensitive to their stress, even if you think they shouldn't be stressed about certain situations. Remember, every child's tolerance is different. What may be tolerable for one, would not be for the other.
- Remember, every child tries their best to live up to your expectations, but at some point couldn't do it anymore. Don't be harsh on your child if he fails a semester, rather find out what obstacles they faced that prevented them from being successful in their exam.
- Let them know you support them, build trust and remain honest with your child.
- Allow them to express themselves and share their struggles. Find out what is causing them to feel the way they are and offer solutions to help them release the pressure they may be feeling.
The goal is to let them know they have a safe space to share their struggles with you and this will most likely taper their anxiety and stress levels and reduce burnout. Burnout can be very disturbing for most children. We need to actively check in with our children and monitor their mental health. We need to avoid the build-up of stress and anxiety that can lead to more serious situations if not taken care of earlier on.
What are some signs that our child is burnout:
- Isolation
- Rude, disobedient, angry, and irritable
- Less likely to open up and share their feelings. Reduced engagement with families and/or friends.
- Leaning towards activities or people that may be unhealthy for their growth and functioning, for example, adolescents using illegal substances to cope with stressors.
- Not doing academically well in school, for example, grades get worse, and they refuse to go to school. - Procrastination, not motivated to do school work.
- They show signs of apathy - Unable to concentrate - Signs of mental disorder example, depression, anxiety, fear, etc.
If your family member or someone you know is struggling to cope with their mental health contact your local Board Certifies Psychiatrist/Psychologist for evaluation and treatment.
Our mental resilience is an evolving system — constantly adapting to our circumstances and how we make use of our abilities. We thank you for your interest in our articles. And thank you for providing positive feedback about Dr. Sultana's services! We are pleased to see you are taking an interest in mental health and helping all of us.
Kind regards, Bayhill Psychiatric Associates & Team
Contact Us Today!
We are located in Orlando, but we accept new patients all across the state of Florida ages 5-70 years old. We have Telehealth and In-Office appointments available.
Call us today at 407-903-9696.
Book your appointment and get your psychiatric evaluation done at your convenience.
- posted: Apr. 12, 2023
Just like adults, children can become overwhelmed and unable to function effectively due to stress and anxiety. In previous articles, I spoke about being a non-judgmental listener. As parents, we need to create a safe space for our children to want to share their feelings and struggles. If we can reduce children's stress and anxiety, we are on the road to improving their mental health.
One might think a child has no worries or stressors in their life. We need to understand children are growing, evolving, maturing, and transitioning from childhood to adolescence. There is also the pressure of school, chores, peers, family, social media, and many others, etc. I know there are daily struggles of adulthood, we all have struggles of our own, but we have an adult maturity that allows us to have some sort of control over our choices and environment. On the other hand, children do not have that perspective. Children are only now learning about their feelings and what works best for them. As a result of this, children are often exhausted and quickly overwhelmed when faced with emotionally challenging situations.
Most times, when a child "acts out" it is a cry for support and help. Recently, I wrote on the topic of High-functioning depression in adults, however, many children show no signs of emotional difficulties and seem to be handling situations in their life very well, without the signs of being overwhelmed. We may miss these signs of our child struggling or needing emotional support because of their high-functioning capacity.
Remember, a child who excels academically and seems to have their life together, also has the same struggles as those who are visibly struggling. Academically successful kids can become overwhelmed too!
Parents set expectations and values they want their children to have. For example, you want your child to get all A's on their exam, and if they don't it evokes frustration in the parent if the child cannot meet such standards. Now the child is feeling this pressure of needing to get good grades to avoid frustrating their parents. But, parents fail to understand that they need to actively be in their child's life, guiding and teaching them daily. How many of us take time out of our busy schedules to spend some time with our children? Whether it is helping them study for an upcoming exam, or finding out about their struggles and what is bothering them. If we are actively involved in our child's life, we are more likely to prevent these extra stressors and pressures on them. Many children may seemingly handle these pressures well, however, there is always a breaking point. And if they reach that breaking point, most times we cannot predict how a child will react.
Burnout can affect anyone, whether they have a high or low tolerance for stress. Oftentimes, a child will feel frustrated when they are barely meeting the expectations put upon them. How does a child become overwhelmed? Expectations laid out to a child may have them feeling they need to be perfect and live up to these expectations set upon them, and if they don't they can feel worthless. According to David Schwartz, " It is the idea of perfectionism that can make teens unable to truly appreciate their accomplishments."
Children usually shut down emotionally and lose their interest to continue making an effort. For example, you can see this in children who have no interest in doing tasks assigned to them and would rather sleep all day or lock themselves away.Burnout in children can:
- Be damaging and self-destructive for kids
- Make a child feel less confident and worthy
- Lose interest in activities at home and school
- Cause them to isolate and be less open to their parents/family
Parents can help their child prevent Burnout by:
- Be more understanding and be a non-judgemental listener.
- Be sensitive to their stress, even if you think they shouldn't be stressed about certain situations. Remember, every child's tolerance is different. What may be tolerable for one, would not be for the other.
- Remember, every child tries their best to live up to your expectations, but at some point couldn't do it anymore. Don't be harsh on your child if he fails a semester, rather find out what obstacles they faced that prevented them from being successful in their exam.
- Let them know you support them, build trust and remain honest with your child.
- Allow them to express themselves and share their struggles. Find out what is causing them to feel the way they are and offer solutions to help them release the pressure they may be feeling.
The goal is to let them know they have a safe space to share their struggles with you and this will most likely taper their anxiety and stress levels and reduce burnout. Burnout can be very disturbing for most children. We need to actively check in with our children and monitor their mental health. We need to avoid the build-up of stress and anxiety that can lead to more serious situations if not taken care of earlier on.
What are some signs that our child is burnout:
- Isolation
- Rude, disobedient, angry, and irritable
- Less likely to open up and share their feelings. Reduced engagement with families and/or friends.
- Leaning towards activities or people that may be unhealthy for their growth and functioning, for example, adolescents using illegal substances to cope with stressors.
- Not doing academically well in school, for example, grades get worse, and they refuse to go to school. - Procrastination, not motivated to do school work.
- They show signs of apathy - Unable to concentrate - Signs of mental disorder example, depression, anxiety, fear, etc.
If your family member or someone you know is struggling to cope with their mental health contact your local Board Certifies Psychiatrist/Psychologist for evaluation and treatment.
Our mental resilience is an evolving system — constantly adapting to our circumstances and how we make use of our abilities. We thank you for your interest in our articles. And thank you for providing positive feedback about Dr. Sultana's services! We are pleased to see you are taking an interest in mental health and helping all of us.
Kind regards, Bayhill Psychiatric Associates & Team
Contact Us Today!
We are located in Orlando, but we accept new patients all across the state of Florida ages 5-70 years old. We have Telehealth and In-Office appointments available.
Call us today at 407-903-9696.
Book your appointment and get your psychiatric evaluation done at your convenience.
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