NAMI Helps Us Understand How to Talk to Kids About Mental Health

My son is 21 years old and I am still constantly checking in with him about his life, friends, and mental health. They aren't the type of conversations that were had in My house growing up. In fact, the idea of you having a mental or emotional problem was a reason to be laughed at; mental illness was a "white people thing".

Knowing that I Myself had struggles with undiagnosed mental illnesses until I was nearly 30 years of age, I made it a point of always monitoring and talking to My son about his feelings, needs, boundaries etc. Luckily, because I was willing and able to normalize conversations about emotions, thoughts and self-expression, I was able to get My son the mental health help he needed when he started struggling.

I meet a lot of parents who are either unwilling or unsure how to have these conversations with their older children. I try to explain that the younger we start these conversations, the better results our children will have. I recently came across a great post on NAMI's Facebook page and wanted to share these tips with you. Check them out in the photo gallery below

NAMI is an amazing resource for all things mental health. Learn more at http://www.nami.org