What to do if your child is struggling: Steps caregivers can take to help kids and teens with their mental health

• Emerging research suggests that child and adolescent mental health problems are on the rise.
• As clinicians and researchers, we have interacted with thousands of caregivers, many of whom have asked us how they can better understand and support their children’s mental health.

Recognize signs of distress

Children and adolescents have varying reactions to experiences and events, and signs of mental distress can look different across young people (and can look different compared to adults too). Changes are normal in children and adolescents, but dramatic and sustained changes are not. Typically, caregivers should be on the lookout for a combination of:

Talk to your children about mental health

• We encourage caregivers to have conversations about mental health early and often, whether their child or teen is struggling or not.
• In this scenario, make a statement about children’s mental health generally, such as “I hear there’s a lot of kids and teens struggling with their mental health right now” and then ask open-ended questions, such as: “what do you think about that?” or “what have you noticed about your own mental health lately”?
• When you have conversations about mental health with your child or adolescent, try to minimize any potential discomfort.
• Also, some children find it hard to have face-to-face conversations about their mental health.

Talk with their teacher

• If you remain concerned about your child, and want to gather additional information, you could speak with their teacher or guidance counsellor.
• Up to 80 per cent of children get their knowledge about mental health from schools.
• Guidance counsellors are specifically trained to address mental health concerns and other school staff are used to having conversations about mental health with students.

Talk with your health-care provider

• With this knowledge, health-care providers can offer strategies and resources to support children and caregivers.
• They will work with caregivers and children directly to decide on the best approaches to addressing the child’s mental health struggles.

Immediately address urgent mental health problems

The strategies above can occur when children and adolescents are not in immediate danger. But when your child shows warning signs of suicide, or is engaging in self-harm behaviour, get them help as soon as possible, including:
• Although supportive in nature, taking care of our children’s mental health can also be taxing and/or triggering for many caregivers.
• We encourage caregivers to prioritize their own mental health, so that they can feel energized and empowered to attend to their children’s mental health.


Sheri Madigan receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, an anonymous donor, and the Canada Research Chairs program.