How To Support Adult Children Struggling With Mental Health
Millions of people live with mental health disorders. For parents, it can be really hard when one of their children suffers. As parents, it can be difficult to know how to support adult children struggling with mental health. Someone may not be sure how to meet their needs. Additionally, you want to respect the fact that they are adults. We can help you understand how to offer support for your adult child. As a result, they can find the help they need to heal at programs like Launch Centers in Los Angeles, California.
Types of Mental Illness
Learning how to support adult children struggling with mental health involves education. By this, we mean knowing about the different types of mental illness. Additionally, it helps to know their individual signs and symptoms.
Mood Disorders
Mood disorders impact the way a person feels. In other words, they affect their moods. Common mood disorders include:
Major Depressive Disorder: Depression is a serious mental illness that affects 16 million adults. A number of factors can contribute to its onset. These include trauma, genetics, life events, and brain structure. For that matter, substance abuse can cause depression to develop.
Symptoms can include:
- Changes in sleep, appetite, and energy
- Trouble concentrating
- Low self-esteem
- Feeling hopeless
- Crying a lot
Bipolar Disorder: The 2 major factors involve mania (highs) and depression (lows). The average age of bipolar onset in young adults is 25. It can be caused by genetics, stress, and brain chemistry.
Symptoms can include:
- Periods of mania or depression
- Hallucinations or delusions
- Irritability, impulsive behavior, and reckless decisions
Anxiety Disorders: These include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias. As well, anxiety can make it hard to engage in everyday life. Additionally, it can make it hard for a person to even leave the house.
Symptoms can include:
- Dread, tension, restlessness, irritability
- Believing the worst will happen
- Racing heart, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, and tremors
- Fatigue and insomnia
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: PTSD comes from being exposed to trauma. This includes assault, accidents, sexual abuse, natural disaster, and military service. In fact, about 7.7 million Americans experience PTSD. The average age of onset is around 20 years old. Launch Centers is proud to provide services specifically for those suffering from PTSD, childhood trauma, and trauma in general. Our website includes several mental health and trauma assessments to help you best determine which treatment options are right for you.
Symptoms can include:
- Flashbacks
- Avoiding people or places that bring up bad memories
- Dissociation
- Easily startled or angered
Personality Disorders
Personality disorders are related to how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Because of this, they often affect how a person relates to others. As well, there are several types of this disorder. These include Antisocial, Avoidant, Borderline, Dependent, Narcissistic, and Histrionic personality disorders for instance.
Personality disorders may develop during childhood. Conversely, they are usually not diagnosed until the person has reached adulthood. Nevertheless, a diagnosis requires evaluation by a mental health expert who will examine long-term patterns and how a person functions.
Symptoms can include:
- Not treating others well
- Lacking empathy
- Feeling shy or sensitive
- Unpredictable or erratic behaviors
- Feeling intense emotions
- Trouble having healthy personal relationships
- Being highly emotional
- Attention-seeking behaviors
Causes of Mental Illness in Adult Children
Many factors can contribute to a person becoming mentally ill. For that matter, it may not just be 1 thing. Instead, several factors may be at play. However, knowing the causes can help parents learn how to support adult children struggling with mental health.
The three most common factors include:
Environmental Factors
These factors can cause stress, anger, irritability, and depression. They also can be social or economic in nature. They impact relationships and daily living.
Examples of these factors include:
- Substance abuse
- Smoking
- Pollution
- Exposure to toxins in childhood
- Unhealthy living conditions and relationships
- Traumatic events
Genetic Factors
Many mental illnesses run in families. For that reason, it’s important to understand a person’s mental health family history. When a member has a mental illness, others often develop 1 as well.
Drugs and Alcohol
Addiction can bring on mental illness symptoms. Additionally, it can complicate mental health conditions that already exist. Nonetheless, treatment can help rectify this.
Drugs that can contribute to poor mental health include:
Understanding How to Assist Adult Children Struggling With Mental Health
First, educating one’s self about mental illness increases knowledge. Second, this allows someone to support adult children with mental health. Because of this, they can help them overcome the painful effects of poor mental health.
As a consequence, their child will be more likely to open up. Under these circumstances, they prove more likely to ask for and benefit from help.
There are several ways to help support one’s child with mental illness. Not only can someone do what feels comfortable. In fact, they can also branch out to try other approaches.
Ways to Support Adult Children With Mental Health Disorders
Daily Tasks
Ask if they need help with daily chores. These can include house cleaning, grocery shopping, and running errands. As well, you can offer to drive them to appointments. On the other hand, if you live far away, make yourself available by phone, camera, or text.
Provide a Place to Talk
Every parent wants to stay connected to their child. In the event that your child asks to talk, be willing to listen. Not only does this give them an outlet, but it also keeps you in the loop. Ask them if they want you to help them solve a problem or just listen to them vent. In either case, knowing you will listen can help.
Show Empathy
Tell your child you understand they are suffering. Let them know you have sympathy for this. As a result, they may open up more. Sometimes, a person just needs to know someone gets that they are in pain.
Normalize the Situation
To begin with, your child may feel they suffer alone. Remind them many people have at least one mental health issue. Then, tell them you do not judge them for being one of them. In sum, let them know they do not suffer alone.
Offer to Find Help
Initially, your child may be afraid to seek treatment. For that matter, they may not know where to start. Let them know you can help them find a therapist or other forms of help. With this in mind, they may be more likely to accept help.
Dual Diagnosis
About half of all people who have a mental illness also struggle with addiction. Therefore, it’s important to see if your child may deal with both issues. Many treatment plans can help treat both mental illness and addiction.
Medications
Initially, some people are wary of using medications to help ease mental health symptoms. However, they can be real game-changers. Ask your child if they use or would consider talking about trying meds to help manage their symptoms. Then, listen to any concerns they have.
The Pandemic Effect
COVID-19 has had a worldwide impact. Not only does it affect physical health, but it also took its toll on mental health. The pandemic also disrupted career development and college for many young adults. Talk to your child about how they are managing the pandemic. It may have brought on or increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and other difficult emotions. With this in mind, they may need to process their feelings.
Mental Health Treatment in Southern California
When your kids suffer, you feel pain, too. In fact, it can be really hard when they are grown up and may not want help. With this in mind, you may be wondering how to support adult children struggling with mental health. If so, we can help.
Launch Centers offers many options to help adult children with mental illness. In fact, we offer treatments that change lives. Additionally, our caring counselors help teach your child to manage their mental health. With this in mind, you can help your child improve their overall mental health. For more information about our mental health treatment options, visit our admissions page today.
