Mental Health Supports

how to talk to children about mental health

Written by Oliver Schofield

This is my advice on how to talk to children about mental health:

1. Offer a bit of your day first.
offer a bit of your day first when sharing conversations about emotions start by offering some information about your day and how you're feeling, if you model positive sharing and acceptance of emotions in the home they will start doing the same.

2. Ask open questions.
ask open questions instead of asking "are you okay?" ask an open question around key emotions. for example, "what are things that make you happy?" and "what is worrying you right now?" if you ask a closed question you may only receive a yes or no for an answer.

3. Talk when you’re both relaxed.
talk when you're both relaxed it is very difficult for children to just sit still and talk, find the right time to ask the questions. when you're both calm you could ask questions like "do you feel calm now?" or "when do you not feel calm?"

4. Don’t force your child to speak.
don't force your child to speak if the child doesn't want to open up, don't force it by continuing to ask questions. to get your child to properly open up wait until they're willing to talk, if they don't seem willing, you should leave it and try another time.

5. Turn off electronics and screens.
turn off electronics and screens when you are trying to talk to your child about their mental health, ensure there are no distractions. make sure that you are able to give your child your full attention when you're speaking to them, that includes your phone as well.

Innovation in mental health has been stagnant for years, I’m not a therapist but I’m studying emerging psychedelic-assisted.

Here’s what I’ve learned and why I am excited:

Psychedelics create neuroplasticity in the brain, this allows the brain to form new — healthy pathways that lead to long term changes and improvement, it is a groundbreaking discovery but let me get this out of the way.

• you may have heard of a fad called microdosing, taking small doses at regular intervals.
• research suggests it may not have any long term mental health improvements, this is probably because neuroplasticity seems to occur at higher doses.
• a ton of research has gone into psychedelics, recent years have expanded research from 1950s.

Several molecules have been granted “breakthrough therapy,” status by the feds, dta suggests they are way more effective than traditional treatments like way more effective. The MDMA-Assisted Therapy protocol has gone through the most research focused on PTSD.

Up to 67% of people with severe PTSD no longer have PTSD two months after their third treatment, MDMA is looking like it will be first legalized therapeutic, psilocybin is probably next runner up.

The largest study is focused on its ability to treat depression with incredibly promising results (somewhere in the ball park of 80% efficacy), after the counter-culture of 1960s, psychedelics were outlawed and research shuttered in much of the world.

This revival is coming at a time when society is experiencing unprecedented mental health issues, 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 children will suffer from a mental illness in their lives 300 million people globally are suffering from depression right now.

There is a suicide every 40 seconds, humanity needs this to work. The only molecule currently legal to administer is ketamine, so providers have started there. While not a classical psychedelic, it creates neuroplasticity which when combined with psychotherapy (before and after not during a ketamine infusion) can be effective.

Studies are also looking at how psychedelics can improve anxiety, addiction, OCD, Alzheimer’s and other psychological conditions. There are so many promising mental health outcomes with psychedelics.

We have a lot to be excited for!