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Supporting Teen Mental Health
How can parents support their students' mental health?
We asked Cassie Nichols, hockey mom and former Pullman resident, who served as director of Psychological and Wellness Services at Two Universities. Cassie is now in private practice full time and sees older adolescents and adults in Washington state remotely and in person.
Adolescent mental health has become a national priority. But what can parents do to support their students’ emotional wellness and what can they do if they are concerned about their teen’s mental health?
1.Understand how good nutrition, exercise, and sleep work together to maintain not only good physical health, but also good mental health and talk about this with your student. With early school start times, zero periods, late athletic practices, homework, and social time for family and friends, sleep is often not seen as a priority. Students and parents do not often realize that teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep each night (CDC, Sept 10, 2020) and not getting enough sleep can impact one’s mental health.
2. Limit your student’s social media usage. Our students have been raised with smart phones and most cannot recall a time when they were not aware of social media. While social media can be enjoyable as a way to connect with friends, meet new people, and have easy access to entertainment, over usage can disrupt important healthy behaviors and skew “normalcy” (make-up, lighting, and filters can just about make anyone look like a run-way model). Research has shown that teenagers who are on social media for 3 hours or more a day have higher rates of anxiety and depression. And sleep is greatly improved if smart phones and other devices are kept out of bedrooms at night.
3. Encourage your student to practice good self-care. Good self-care means eating well, getting enough sleep, and exercising. But it also includes having good friends and spending time with them and with family doing things that they enjoy. It also means having time alone to pursue creative outlets such as journaling, drawing, or playing music.
4. Do not encourage underage drinking or other drug use. Students who are goal-directed, social, do well academically, are connected to their families, and are involved in extracurricular activities such as sports are less likely to use alcohol or drugs. The research on cannabis use by adolescents is fairly clear that it is not healthy for the developing brain and impacts motivation, memory, and learning.
5. Get involved in health related decisions at your student’s school and team sports. Encourage a health and wellness focus for PTA and booster initiatives. Help organizations make healthier food options for students. Try to protect sleep by questioning over-emphasis on regular and ongoing zero periods and late evening practices.
6. Our children learn from what they see from parents, even teenagers. Practice the choices that you want your students to make. Eat healthy food, exercise, get enough sleep, drink responsibly, practice good self-care. Talk with your students about their mental health and normalize these discussions. Have sit-down dinners with your family more evenings than not and have a “no screens at the table” rule. Involve your student with preparing dinner and cleaning up after dinner. Use this time to check in with one another and talk about your day.
Despite doing our best to keep our teenagers physically and emotionally healthy, they still may sometimes struggle with mental health challenges. Signs that your student may be struggling with their mental health may include changes in sleep (too much, too little), changes in eating habits, including weight loss or weight gain, lost of interest in things they previously found enjoyable, withdrawal from friends and family, academic struggles, frequent worry, self-harming behavior, alcohol and drug use, and/or telling you or someone else they that they are having a difficult time. Do not ignore your concern or warning signs. Understand that mental health problems are health and medical problems. Talk to your student’s medical providers or school counselor about your concerns. Make an appointment with a mental health provider. Talk with professionals about how you can best support your student to be healthy again.
Cassandra Nichols, Ph.D.
Seattle Anxiety Specialists
Sleep on it—Ten secrets to getting quality rest
Palouse Pathways Scholars are students from all over the Palouse who are interested in exploring college and career options and preparing for life after high school. We asked them to describe things they do to maintain wellbeing. Here they offer advice on getting a good night sleep.
Sleep: It’s essential for a healthy body, mind, and mood. Yet for busy high school students, it’s often the thing that’s hardest to find time for!! We asked our scholars to share their secrets to getting plenty of quality sleep to power them through their days. Here are some of the many thoughtful responses, distilled down to ten ideas to help you get better sleep—and more of it!
I finish my harder tasks and “must do’s” earlier in the day so I don’t have to stay up all night working on them.
Physical exercise during the day or evening helps make it easier for me to fall asleep and sleep deeply.
I plan ahead. First, I figure out when I want to wake up, to allow myself plenty of time in the morning. Then I go 8 hours back and set that as my bed time. Next, I block off plenty of time before my bedtime to get ready for bed and wind down so I can fall asleep on time.
Having a set night routine helps me a lot with getting more sleep. I like to dedicate at least an hour where I do my skin care, read, get ready for bed, and plan for the next day. I try to keep this time calm and quiet to set the tone for good sleep.
Putting my phone down and reducing blue light an hour before I go to sleep helps me fall asleep faster.
If it’s bedtime but I’m still not feeling tired, I’ll organize my room, read a book, or listen to a podcast or quiet music until I feel ready to sleep,
Other things that can help: a warm bath, cup of herbal tea, fan or white noise, cool room temperature, dark or blackout curtains.
Things that probably won’t help: Eating a big meal or sweet snacks, drinking caffeine, taking a cold shower, late night doomscrolling or social media.
Consistency: Always trying to go to sleep and wake up at the same time makes both falling asleep and waking a whole lot easier. I even try to stay consistent on the weekends, sleeping in no more than 30 minutes so my internal clock doesn’t get thrown off.
If I get off of my sleep schedule, I make sure to prioritize sleep over any extracurriculars or optional assignments until I feel fully rested again.
Bonus advice: Never underestimate the power of a catnap. If I’m running out of steam long before bedtime, it’s amazing how much a 15-20 minute snooze can help. (Just remember to set your alarm so you don’t accidentally wake up three hours later!)