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Manage Problem Behaviors Caused by Childhood Mental Illness

March 13, 2017 Melissa David

Parenting a child with problem behavior due to mental illness is hard enough at home. But what do you do when you can't be with your child? Watch this for tips.

It's important to know how to manage your child's problem behaviors caused by mental illness when you're not there. When your child struggles with mental illness, going into public can be terrifying. More terrifying is wondering what your child is doing in public when you're not there (Parenting Children with Behavior Problems). One of my son's diagnoses is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I'll discuss more specifics about parenting children with ADHD throughout March, but for now, just know that ADHD sometimes makes children socially awkward and they display problem behaviors that you need to manage even when you're not there.

Problem Behaviors Also Happen When You're Not There

During a parenting group at one of my son's behavior programs, I came to a realization. It isn't my son's mental illness that causes me the most fear. Yes, there are scary parts of it, but there are also amazing parts of it. It's my opinion that kids with ADHD perceive life in multi-faceted, imaginative, amazing tones that the rest of us can't fathom. I love that my son isn't "normal." As Coco Chanel once said, "In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."

Whatever his struggles, my son is definitely irreplaceable.

My biggest fear is that no one else will see it this way. I can manage ADHD tantrums, but can his teachers? I can patiently parent him through immature social skills, but how long will his friends deal with him being a sore loser or being unable to share? What happens when he's no longer a little boy but a teenager and he has a violent outburst near the police?

Tools for Kids with Problem Behavior

Parenting a child with problem behavior due to mental illness is hard enough at home. But what do you do when you can't be with your child? Watch this for tips.

You can't be there for your child all the time. You need to know how to manage your child's problem behavior due to mental illness even when you're not there. Your main goal as a parent, then, is to provide tools for your child with a mental illness to use to self-regulate, self-control, and self-soothe (30 Tips on Managing Attention Deficit Disorder at Home). You want them to be that amazing kid you know they are, even when you're not around to deflect some of the less amazing traits. Other children may naturally develop social skills, but our children with mental illnesses sometimes develop more slowly. Sometimes, their illnesses prevent them from developing these skills on their own at all (Help Your Child With Mature Social Skills, Better Self-Control).

My videos moving forward will focus on tips and tools you can provide your child to use at home, school, or in the community to help them cope and manage their behavior problems. Check out the video below regarding 3 tools my son currently uses in school (i.e. fidgets distract him from anger).

Until next time, remember this second awesome quote from Marilyn Monroe:

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.

Find Melissa on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

APA Reference
David, M. (2017, March 13). Manage Problem Behaviors Caused by Childhood Mental Illness, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, March 28 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/parentingchildwithmentalillness/2017/03/managing-your-childs-mental-illness-even-youre-not-with-them



Author: Melissa David

Melissa David is a mother based out of Minnesota. She has two young children, one of whom struggles with mental illness.The support and wisdom of other parents proved invaluable to her in raising both her children; and so she hopes to pay it forward to other parents via Life With Bob. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Umair Aslam
April, 11 2017 at 6:30 am

Yes this is so serious, Childhood is a tricky age to predict any irregular responses. Parents, specially the new ones, are inexperienced in raising a child and understanding their needs. They always confuse the unpredictable reactions of their kid with a phase in their childhood. It is necessary to enlighten everyone about the mental disorders that a child experiences.
https://www.marham.pk/healthblog/7-common-mental-disorders-in-children/

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