A focus on preventative measures for the mental health of our children |22 June 2018

Every year in April, the Mental Health Services of the Seychelles Hospital commemorates a National Recovery Week with a different theme each year. During that week, they promote the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders.

Their services also celebrate people in recovery, paying tribute to the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promote the message that recovery in all its forms is possible.

This year, the theme was ‘Mental Health in the 2K Generation’, essentially mental health in children and youth, an area that is seen as a priority for creating awareness, since according to Anna-Lisa Labiche, senior clinical psychologist and head of psychological services at the Seychelles Hospital, people do not tend to associate mental illnesses with children, despite the fact that such illnesses do exist in children.

Additionally, some types of mental illnesses in children including depression, fear and separation anxiety (discomfort when left in an unfamiliar environment), may not be very apparent.

Ms Labiche explains that as a result, it is often only when there are obvious signs, like extreme behaviour, that children are brought to the Mental Health Services for assistance. An example of such extreme behaviour is severe separation anxiety that actually inhibits the parents from being away from the child.

As such, the Mental Health Services have recently taken the initiative to place more emphasis on preventative measures for mental health in children, which goes above and beyond treating mental illnesses.

Mental health refers to our cognitive, behavioural and emotional wellbeing, which is essentially about how we think, feel and behave. It is a state of well-being in which the individual, realises his or her own abilities; can cope with the normal stresses of life; can work productively and fruitfully; and is able to make a contribution to the community.

Mental illnesses are the change in thoughts, emotions and behaviour of a person. Such changes can be observed in the behaviour of a person who displays some or all of them.

Ms Labiche explains that, over the course of this year, they will be organising various activities which will aim to give children what is necessary to have a healthy mind, to have the ability to balance life’s stresses and pleasures, and to have the resources to cope with the difficulties that we face in life.

As one of the first activities, the Mental Health Services have begun collaborating on a pilot project with Perseverance School, where they want to better equip the students with problem-solving skills and other essential life and social skills. According to Ms. Labiche many children lack this particular skill, and this can lead to future challenges, as it can impact on their confidence and self-esteem. 

“We want to allow children to develop good self-esteem, to have confidence in themselves, to better deal with problems they face at their level, regardless of what they can or cannot do.” She cites bullying as one of the prominent problems that children face in schools.

The Mental Health Services staff will assist the school’s teachers through small exercises and activities to be integrated within the school programme, e.g. in Personal and Social Education (PSE) classes, to educate and to build on such issues, with the overall aim of fostering healthier wellbeing.

As an example, Ms Labiche says that they intend to speak to the children, asking them what they feel they are good at doing, asking them to practice activities at home and identifying their own strengths.

“Through such activities, we will assist the children in identifying things like confidence, strengths and their weaknesses, and discuss on how it can have an impact on their wellbeing. For children with possible concern, together with the school we will provide necessary assistance with parents’ involvement.”

Ms Labiche says that there is also a need to educate parents about the different development stages of a child, noting that there is a lot of emphasis placed on the physical development of children, and not as much on their emotional growth.

It is common, she adds, to think that parenting comes naturally, and it is important to know and to understand that for some parents, this is not the case. How we behave towards our children is also important for their emotional development.

For example, when you are facing a difficult situation, e.g. loss of a loved one, it is important to recognise that you may not be in the best emotional state, and that your behaviour can have an impact on your child, so that you can make the best decision to prevent your situation from affecting your child. This is why awareness and education about mental health and illnesses is very important for everyone.