How to Improve Mental Health: Parents Edition

Having your family depend on you for guidance at a time like now can really weigh down on you after a while. You may find yourself trying to balance a heavy load with work and home life, all while protecting your family’s health and safety, including your own. But how can you achieve all of this while taking care of your mental health?

Here are a few tips for to remember when trying to juggle it all.

Create a home routine – Things tend to work out better when everyone knows what to expect. Set a routine for your family’s day to day schedule and try to stick to it as much as you can. With many other things out of our control right now, routines help to increase the feeling of safety, creates a sense of normalcy and encourages everyone to stay on track.

Have patience – While patience can be a difficult thing to maintain in certain scenarios, keep in mind that it’s completely normal for children to make mistakes, and they may do it more than once. Demonstrating patience with your children helps increase emotional stability while decreasing stress and frustration for both you and your child.

Practice breathing exercises – There are many helpful breathing exercises that are so simple to do and can be done anywhere. Deep breathing can help you calm the body, reduce anxiety and transition into a much more relaxed state.

Turn on your listening ears – Creating a space for open dialogue is necessary to have for you and your child, but so is listening. If you having trouble getting on the same page, try to make an extra effort to really hear them out. If your child feels their voice is heard, it makes them feel more understood and valued.

Don’t struggle in silence – If you need extra help don’t hesitate to speak up. Take time to learn about the resources available to you locally and know who to reach out to when things get tough. 

Most importantly, remember that in order to take care of others, you have to take care of yourself. View our previous blog to learn about ten ways to take a mental break.

If you need more guidance on mental health, schedule an appointment with a Village Health Partners counselor here.