How We Can Promote Healthy Habits For Good Mental Health

A child who grows up in an environment where his emotions are taken into account, where there is an adult who helps him “decipher” what happens to you by putting into words what you are feeling, without judging or minimizing it, and it is your guide so that little by little you can understand the causes that “Woke up” That emotion that you felt, you will be an adult tomorrow capable of recognizing and registering your own emotions, with emotional skills that will allow you to develop healthy friendships, achieve your goals and objectives that are proposed and handle the different obstacles that arise.

For it, We, their reference adults, have to attend and take care of our own mental health, since the health of our children develops and is sustained by the mental health of their environment. We are their main learning models, so it is essential to be able to “enable” ourselves to feel all emotions, learn to register them, understand them and be aware of how we react to them, because they will tend to reproduce the same response patterns as ours.

And just like us, we have the opportunity to take care of our mental health in the daily routine of our day to day, such as doing activities that generate enjoyment, doing sports, having friends with whom we can trust and share our emotions, our children They need our guidance and daily accompaniment to be able to develop resources and strategies that allow them to take care of and attend to their own mental health.

Then, How can we monitor the mental health of our children in this context of a pandemic, where more than ever we must promote their care?

• Helping them through playful resources, children’s stories, illustrations, etc., to learn to know and identify their emotions.

• Promoting play spaces so that they can express and channel their emotional states.

• Giving them responsibilities according to their age and evolutionary stage to promote their autonomy, which will allow them to feel capable of making decisions and developing greater confidence in themselves.

• Promoting resilience, keeping in mind that adversities are part of life and helping them to be resilient will allow them to face the challenges that arise, emerging from them strengthened and learning from those experiences.

• Helping them develop competencies, as children need to know that they can overcome challenges and achieve goals through their actions. With our accompaniment, it is important to guide them in the development of their own individual talents and interests, which will help them feel competent and better able to handle stress positively.

• Promoting the conditions so that they can establish healthy and stable friendships, since having a good support network contributes to the mental and emotional well-being of the whole boy and girl.

• Helping them develop the capacity for empathy. The ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes encourages connection and reinforces personal responsibility, keeping in mind that our actions have an impact on the emotional state of others.

• Promote good physical health. Good physical health supports good mental health, such as having healthy eating habits, getting regular exercise and proper rest guidelines, protect you against the stress that can arise in difficult situations.

In this way, we will be able to help them in the care of their mental health, being the same essential for their well-being and optimal integral development.

Child psychologist, and co-founder of JUEGOlogía, where for several years they have equipped health professionals and parents with recreational and therapeutic tools to work on different cognitive, emotional and social areas in children.