When you hear the term “mental health”, what are some words that come to mind? We often hear more negative terms associated with mental health than positive, but in reality, “mental health” is a neutral term. Mental health applies to everyone, not just those who are mentally ill. Just like we do what we need to take care of our body to be sure that our physical health needs are met, we also must take care of our brain to stay emotionally, socially, and psychologically healthy.

Mental health is defined as emotional, intellectual, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, relate to others, and behave. It is significant to our overall health and well-being.

The role of mental health in the classroom is significant because it affects student’s cognition (ability to learn, plan, pay attention, and remember what we’ve learned), emotions (how we handle strong feelings), behavior (our actions), relationships (how we relate to, communicate with, and handle conflict with others), and climate (how we interact with one another).

It is important to talk about mental health because 1 in 6 children has a diagnosed mental health problem. The most commonly diagnosed disorders in school-age children are ADHD, behavior/conduct problems, and anxiety. Many disorders “co-occur” with one another. For example, about 3 in 4 children diagnosed with depression also have anxiety. Moreover, children with ADHD have more obstacles in the classroom than other students.

Grown-ups have the ability to support children who are struggling with their mental health. Coregulation is the first practical strategy. Coregulation refers to warm and responsive interactions between a caregiver and a child. Effectively coregulating emotions during a challenging situation will maintain a safe, healthy, and supportive context for handling stress or other adversities.

Here’s an example: instead of shaming, blaming, or criticizing an unwanted behavior, an effective coregulation tactic would be to highlight what behavior is wanted, what your expectations are, and praising what they are doing right. Hyper-focusing on what a child is doing wrong can lead them to feel insecure, unsupported, and in turn, may feel unmotivated to do what is expected of them.

Another practical strategy that can be used is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present and aware of where you are and what you are doing. It means not being overly reactive or worried about what is happening around you. Mindfulness activities can be used to support the mental health of children and assist in their ability to coregulate.

The bottom line is mental health is essential to children’s ability to learn, and it is critical to look out for symptoms of mental health problems, follow the appropriate protocols as it relates to responding to a concern, assist children in their ability to coregulate, and incorporate mindfulness in daily living.

Michelle Matthews is our local FCS agent.