Signs Your Child Would Benefit From Counselling

Being a child is a confusing time. It can be emotional – your hormones are ranging, there are troubles with friends and there’s a lot of pressure academically.

How do you know when their troubles are transitioning into something serious? And when is it time for help?

While it is developmentally necessary for a child to go through struggles for emotional development, sometimes the pressure is too great. Take the time to listen and don’t give up if they push you away several times.

Multiple Problems

Although it is normal to face difficulties, you need to look out for several. A build-up of issues can be hard for anyone to process, let alone a child without the emotional experience.

A tell-tale sign they may need help is when they start feeling down. Especially if your child is usually very optimistic or easy-going, be wary of them feeling bad about themselves.

They might lose confidence or become less organized and effective. While grades aren’t everything, if an over-achiever is starting to fail, then that is a red flag.

Worrying About The Future

It’s normal to be nervous about the future and anticipatory anxiety is a part of everyday life. However, you need to be on the look-out for if those feelings spiral.

If your child is being overcome by these emotions, then they need help. When they are lost and hopeless, there needs to be a person who can help then process whether that is a parent or counselor.

Changed Behavioral Patterns

A key indicator of a change in mental health is changed behavior. Regardless of if they were social butterflies or had a few close friends, a sudden withdrawal from their normal activities is something to look out for.

Social-life aside, any change in patterns can be a worry. Things to look out for are different or unhealthy sleeping or eating habits.

Change is normal, but if it came over unannounced and doesn’t seem beneficial then it can be a sign they are struggling.

Negative Behavior

Bad habits are a normal part of life and everyone suffers from one or two. However, if your child starts to behave differently then you need to keep an eye on it.

A key indicator is repetitive self-destructive behavior that they didn’t display before. Hair-pulling and skin-picking are indicators of underlying stress that need to be explored.

They might also take on some more difficult to process habits like drinking or smoking which is a common form of escapism.

Alarming Action

One of the biggest and most alarming signs of a child’s distress is self-harm. Whether it is something they are suffering from or just talking about, they need some help.

They might also express the opinion that they are worthless or no-one will miss them. Every child briefly ‘runs away’ from home after an argument, but the belief they are worthless is something different.

Of course, everyone knows that the mention of self-harm is a huge red flag, but it’s how you deal with it that is important. Calmly getting help is the best process, even though it is hard not to panic.