All young children need good mental health so they can learn to express and regulate their emotions and explore their environment. Early childhood mental health is defined as healthy social and emotional development. Safe, secure, and nurturing relationships increase these skills. These skills help children learn to manage common conflicts and challenges, trust others, and experience empathy, compassion, and generosity. 

Ways to Support Mental Health in Children

To support your child’s mental health, be sure they experience warmth and positivity from the people around them. Regulating and expressing emotions is learned from observing how others handle their emotions. A secure environment offers children love and meets their needs quickly. Children’s first relationships are with their family and grow to include others. 

You can also help promote positive mental health in your child in the following ways: 

• Spending time with your child, learning about their interests, and observing their interactions.
• Being affectionate and creating an environment where children feel safe. 
• Teaching conflict resolution in an age-appropriate way. 
• Supporting their skill development.
• Sharing the importance of respecting differences and appreciating cultures that are different from their own.
• Explaining and creating experiences for give-and-take relationships. 
• Encouraging playtime to support creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

What are signs or symptoms that your child might have a mental health disorder?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, mental health disorders among children are described as serious changes in the way children typically learn, behave, or handle their emotions, causing distress and problems getting through the day. Among the more common mental disorders diagnosed in childhood are attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and behavior disorders. 

The physical symptoms of a mental health issue include not sleeping well, oversleeping, struggling to get out of bed, loss of appetite or overeating, loss or gain of weight, and physical pain without an apparent medical cause. 

Additional behavioral signs and symptoms of a mental health disorder can include:

• Overactivity or difficulty paying attention.
• Anxiety, worry or fear.
• Sadness and depression.
• Problems with food or body image.
• Extreme anger, aggression, or defiance.
• Unusual thoughts or experiences.
• Regressing to outgrown behaviors, such as thumb-sucking or bed-wetting.
• Restless energy. 

Your child may also exhibit signs of problems in social or school settings. These may include decreased success at tasks, not socializing with other children, not wanting to attend school, not following the teacher’s instructions, withdrawing from friends, and losing interest in social events like birthday parties. 

What are resources for a child who may have a mental health concern?

Parenting a child with a mental health issue isn’t easy and it should not be done alone. There are many ways you can seek help for your child by getting an early diagnosis and appropriate care. You can start by seeking advice from your child’s pediatrician or your family doctor who can recommend mental health services, including screening, referrals, and treatment.

If your employer offers mental health benefits, ask them or your insurance provider about behavioral health coverage for your family. You can also ask your child’s school administrators if they have access or can recommend mental health providers trained to treat children. 

Also note that child care providers in the ABC Quality program are trained to recognize changes in a child’s behavior that may be a symptom of a mental health issue. ABC Quality providers follow the Pyramid Model, a framework of evidence-based practices and universal strategies that promote young children’s healthy social and emotional development. Learn more about the Pyramid Model here.  

Parents can also consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s searchable map of South Carolina children’s mental health providers here. 

The South Carolina Department of Mental Health also has numerous resources available online at https://scdmh.net/patients_families/.