Supporting Mental Health - Essay Example

Supporting mental Health Supporting Mental Health Supporting Mental Health When we see a person withdrawn from reality, we judge him as a pretender who does not want to take responsibilities. Many of us despise them because we consider them not only a liability of the society but poses risks to the general public. To help improve the quality of life in our society, the opposite should be done. Mental health should be strengthened at an early age. Understanding the biological make up, environmental factors and providing quality programs that promote the child’s healthy mind are all supportive of mental health.

A biological factor which contributes to the child’s mental health involves the genetic influence. A number of genetic disorders had created mental retardation. A child is considered retarded if he has an extremely poor performance in any standardized intelligence tests. However, not all forms of retardation are inherited. One form could reside in the impairment of the brain and nervous system as a result of trauma or an imbalance in the body’s neurotransmitter chemicals in transmitting messages to and from the brain.

Others could be caused by failure in the genetic code to produce necessary enzymes for important metabolism promoting mental health. A child who is free from all of these biological misfortunes may have a healthier mind. Although, there is strong hereditary evidence influencing the child’s mental health, the same applies to the effect of the environmental factors. Santhrock and Yussen (1984) in their book explain that environmental factors like home and education may likewise have an impact on the child’s mental health.

Home environment which constitutes the family could enrich or damage the child’s mental health. Positive home environment with minimal tensions, family conflicts, quarrels, and other forms of family problems promotes emotional and social development. While anti social behaviors is found to be a result of broken homes (Rutter, 2005). Observation also reveals that impaired parenting may have a profound effect on the child’s socialization and mental health in general. Parents who do not guide their children on what is right and wrong may have children with impaired judgment.

Families with defective relationship and behavior may affect the child’s socialization as well. Apart from this, Santrock and Yussen (1984) elaborated that children who receives educational day care program designed to improve mental retardation have better disposition because they do not show depressed emotions. Lastly, poverty has an indirect effect on mental health. It could be a reason for the development of emotional, behavioral and psychiatric problems (Murali, & Oyebode, 2004). While there is no doubt that unwanted heredity and environment plays an important role in the child’s mental illness, this could be modified or improved through quality early childhood education programs.

Qualities of these programs should include well trained personnel. School nurses and consultants should be expert in dealing with children with serious behavioral and emotional challenges. In addition, programs should also meet sufficient consultations to meet the child’s and family’s needs. The program should include not only those with resources but also serves low income families and with diverse ethics. Furthermore, childhood education programs with longer duration of consultation may yield a better result.

To further foster the child’s mental health, pre-school teachers should implement psychosocial activities such as group work in art activity or games to improve relationship and increase confidence. Teachers should have the effort to work in coordination with the school nurse and consultants to develop mental health assessment skill to determine children’s behavior inside the classroom. Program or project to involve parents in the supervision of their children is another strategy. This strategy would permit teachers to assess the child’s mental milestone with parents.

Such strategy provides data for early effective interventions. References Murali, V., & Oyebode, F., (2004). Poverty, social inequality and mental health. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 10: 216-224 Ruther, M., (2005). How the environment affects mental health. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 186: 4-6 Santhrock, J., & Yussen, S., (1984). Children and adolesecents- Adeveloppmental perspective. Iowa. Brown publisher