The Monsters Under My Bed (and in my head) Part 2

On the blog here.Episode art: Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.comIn Season 1, Episode 14, we covered the first part of this conversation which focused on the need for open discussion about Mental Health. If you haven’t watched it you can watch it here.Equally important a discussion is one about how we support our children and why focusing on mental health is important. Mental health and wellbeing have become more present in all parenting conversations with articles published regularly that outline the challenges kids are facing, and the impacts of the pandemic.A recent article published in the Dayton Daily News provides some pretty alarming statistics. But the importance of mental health isn’t just true in just pandemic or time of societal strife.We saw the need for the conversations before the pandemic with the rise of school shootings from Columbine to Sandy Hook, and more recently (and more locally) Townville Elementary here in the Upstate of South Carolina. In all of these stories, a common theme of parents not understanding how to talk to their kids about what help they needed emerged. Parents not being equipped to have mental health conversations with their kids.For far too long, the discussion around mental health has been discouraged, and mental illness itself has been stigmatized in a way that is grossly detrimental to the health of a society as a whole. What challenges have you faced in raising your children, or seen in the children in your circles and families?How do you talk to your kids about their mental health?How do you support your children to make sure their mental health is nurtured in the same way as their physical health?How do we, as parents, ensure that the next generation shatters the stigma and works toward a future where people care for one another?How do we support each other as parents in recognizing mental health crises and managing them?How is all this important as we work toward a free and voluntary society?Regardless of your experience with kids who have mental illness or other challenges, you can support your community by allowing for discussion without judgment and fostering an environment of support.No one is suggesting that not talking to your kids about their mental health makes you a bad parent or that the parents of the kids who commit atrocities like Columbine, Va Tech, Sandy Hook, or countless others are bad parents. Ya’ll know we don’t judge like that.What we are passionate about is awareness. And being armed with the resources, links, friends, support, and compassion you need to usher in a new era of mental well being. Teach your kids about being healthy not just through diet, exercise, and standing up to bullies, but through recognizing their own challenges, struggles, and developing the awareness and courage to ask for help.Ready to support our show? Smach those LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW buttons.Wanna send us your money? Give it to the SCLP for now. We’re still deciding how and if we’re gonna make this a thing.