CRITICAL MENTAL HEALTH AREAS TO FOCUS ON IN 2023 - PART 2

Mental Health Around the Dinner Table

In our last post, we discussed mental health in the workplace. There is little doubt that employees with the resources and care to manage their mental health better will be more productive, better to work with, and have greater longevity with the company. And employers who take the time and energy to care for their employees by providing the necessary resources are more desirable and will attract better talent. It really is a win-win. 

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But a big part of the employee's mental health in the workplace stems from or is an extension of how healthy their home and family life is. 

Families are becoming increasingly busy, spending far less time together, and the older our kids get, the more ways they have to become disconnected. There are more activities, more screen time, homework, hours to work, and overall schedule demands. This means less time for conversations around the dinner table, time for family walks around the block, family game nights, or late-night driveway basketball. 

Perhaps you can see the problem starting to show. The need to talk about our mental health with the people that love us the most is increasing, while the time we have to talk about it is significantly decreasing. 

Allow me to calmly but pointedly sound the alarm. 

If we continue at this pace, things will not get better. They will continue to get worse. 

The good news is that many parents are already sensing this trend and beginning to act on it. Educators are starting to see the importance of mental wellness in schools. Families, schools, and workplaces are all beginning to have similar conversations, enabling families with the right tools to keep the conversations going at home. Parents are increasingly and actively working to keep communication lines open with their kids. They are looking for warning signs and asking the right questions. 

The ones that do have these five strategies in common. 

They Are Authentic 

I know authenticity is kind of a buzzword these days. It gets thrown around a lot when we talk about the best kind of people. However, all I mean here is to remember that kids sniff out a fake a mile away. So don’t be. Be real with them. You’re not perfect, and they know it. Lead with that. Part of getting through struggles in life is knowing that we are not alone in that struggle. As a parent, it is a massive win for our kids to know that, on some level, we have been where they are, and it’s tough. 

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They Actively Listen

The hardest part of listening is resisting the temptation to fix the problem. More often than not, our kids don’t want us to fix it. They want us to listen. They want to be heard. And when we simply try and fix it, what looks to us like we are helping, can make our kids feel like an inconvenience. Hurry up and fix the kid so life can get back to normal. So take the time and just listen. 

They Don’t Judge

Years ago, I learned my favorite lesson in parenting. “Let the consequences do the teaching.” It’s also one of the hardest lessons to learn. It is so much easier to tell them how to do something, how to feel, or how to react than to give them the space to navigate things on their own. Be the sage council, be the shoulder to cry on, be the protector and the cheerleader, but sometimes the best lesson is the one they learn on their own. 

They Help Them Find Resources 

Be okay with not having all the answers and explore the solutions together. This is especially important when it comes to our mental health. Establishing a regular rhythm of candid conversations about the family’s mental health is essential. Check in with one another, and when things get beyond our understanding, find the help you need. 

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Give Yourself A Break

News flash, you’re not perfect. Surprised right? You’re going to mess it up, say the wrong thing, act the wrong way, or miss an obvious cue that a family member is struggling. Don’t beat yourself up. Dust yourself off and try again. 

What goes on within the four walls of your home should be the most authentic, sincere, and real messy part of your life. It’s where we fight like crazy and make up two seconds later. It’s where we feel like we could hate our family, but somehow we love them fearlessly. It’s all of humanity on display. So naturally, it ought to be ground zero for nurturing our mental wellness and the wellness of those we love the most. 

Click Here to Learn About Healthy Boundaries and Self-Compassion