Can you think yourself well? Pt I – Building resilient children

Introduction

Most adults will experience some form of mental ill-health over the course of their lives. This might be the result of some significant event such as a divorce or bereavement and could be a unique episode; or it might be a chronic thread of repeated, similar episodes or of episodes that develop from one set of symptoms to another - worry to anxiety to negative mood or depression, for example. In other words, it’s more ‘normal’ than not to experience a period of mental ill-health at some point in life. Whether or not these episodes tip us into a more pronounced phase of psychological distress is in part attributable to the severity and nature of the triggering event, along with life circumstances and the support network around us – but it is also moderated by our resilience. 

In the following articles we address a number of related questions – What is resilience? How can we help our children to develop their resilience and thereby prevent or ameliorate later episodes of mental ill health? As adults, is our resilience fixed or can we enhance it? If so how? Do ‘talking therapies’ work in helping us to address our mental health problems? How do we choose a counsellor/therapist? 

This first article in the series addresses the question of how we can build resilience in our children. Are there things that we as parents can do to nurture resilience in our children and protect against mental ill health…