Supporting Your Children's Mental Health
Guide For Parents and CarersAt MQ, we aim to cut through the noise, examine the evidence, and provide clear, practical advice for parents and carers, so you can protect both your children's and your own mental health.
Your guide to Children’s Mental Health
At MQ, we understand how overwhelming it can be for parents and carers to navigate the world of children’s mental health. That’s why we’ve created this guide: to offer calm, clear, and evidence-based advice.
Whether you’re looking for everyday ways to support your child’s wellbeing or wondering what to do if you’re worried, we hope our guide will help.
Below is a sneak peak of what to expect from the guide.
Children's Mental Health Statistics
One in five children in the UK has a probable mental disorder – that's six in every classroom. For children with neurodiversity’s such as Autism or ADHD, they face additional challenges which can put them at a higher risk of distress.
As parents and carers, we all want our children to grow up feeling safe, happy, and confident. But sometimes, even very young children can experience big feelings - like worry, sadness, or frustration - that they don’t yet have the words to explain.Â
How a Child's Brain Develops
In the first section of our guide, we focus on how young children’s brains develop and how this shapes their emotions. We provide an overview of each stage of a child’s life, from prenatal development to age 18, along with practical tips for each stage.
How to Keep Your Child Healthy and Happy
In this section, we provide practical tips to help your child feel secure, calm, and supported. We explore the importance of having a safe person to talk to, the benefits of modelling healthy behaviour, and other evidence based advice.
Neurodiversity’s Such as Autism and ADHD
In this section we provide specific guidance on how children with ADHD, Autism, Tourette's, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia can be supported, as well as links to sources of more support.
What To Do If You Are Worried About Your Child’s Mental Health
We provide a few steps that you can take if you’re concerned about your child’s mental health.
How to Look After Yourself as a Parent
In the last section of the guide, we provide tips for how parents and carers can take care of their own mental health. We show the importance of prioritising self-care, where to turn for support, and the value of being kind to yourself.
Download Our Free Guide
Raise Money For Mental Health Research
Choose your own adventure and raise money for mental health research. You can do this by swimming, cycling, running, or conquering an obstacle course.
You can simply to donate to MQ and help support the future of mental health research. Supporting ground breaking research to help us better understand, effectively treat and ultimately one day even prevent serious mental illness.
Take a look at our latest insights. Explore new research and news from MQ, read personal stories, or watch and listen to our Open Mind podcast.