don, Author at Kids Mental Health

Talking to Your Kids About Suicide

It’s normal that as a parent, you’re afraid to talk about suicide to your children. But it’s important to know that avoiding the topic can lead to more harm than good, and the idea that talking about suicide can increase its risk is not true, especially if done correctly.
Chances are, your child will experience a loss due to suicide at some point in their lives anyway, so break the barrier by talking about it. Here are some tips:

Stop the stigma. When someone dies of cancer, you immediately know to tell someone that they died of cancer. The same approach should be done when someone dies of suicide, even when …

Kids Mental Health Tips for Parents

ADHD in the Classroom

It’s not uncommon that children are diagnosed with ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Because of this diagnosis, these children may perform poorly in school as they have trouble controlling their impulses. If you’re working with a child with ADHD, it’s important to know how you can help them do better in school.
Sometimes symptoms of ADHD show up less at home and more when they’re in the classroom. Some of these signs are:

Constant motion while seated or moving around the classroom
Difficulty focusing on tasks and schoolwork
Excessive talking when not asked to

These…

Kids Mental Health

Different Types of Treatment Available for Your Child

There are many types of treatment available for your child once they’ve been diagnosed with a mental health condition. Apart from medication such as antidepressants or mood stabilizers, there are also different types of psychotherapy available. What your child will need will depend on their diagnosis, and they can also benefit from a mixture of both approaches.
The more common methods of psychotherapy are:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). A go-to for many mental illnesses, this psychotherapy treatment is a short-term approach that deals with one’s thinking patterns or behaviours to change the way they approach a…

Kids Mental Health

Understanding the Difference Between Trauma and Stress in Kids

Stress is a normal part of everyone’s lives, kids included, but they can have some difficulty in managing it and may therefore need some guidance. As parents, we can help them release some of that stress by talking about the problem or taking some time to do activities that help them destress.
Trauma, however, should not be a normal part of a kid’s life. It’s disruptive, destructive, and should be dealt with sensitively. A traumatic event can be one or a series of happenings that threaten a child’s life or causes horror and helplessness during the event, and it heavily impacts the way the child thinks and sees the world….