Mental and Behavioral Health

When your child is struggling with challenging moods, thoughts, or behaviors, you might feel like you’re on an emotional roller coaster. Your child is loving one minute, and exploding the next. They might say words that you wouldn’t expect, ones that are hard to hear. Maybe they are struggling with their grades or social skills. They might not be eating or sleeping regularly. You’re probably very confused, scared, frustrated, and worried – and rightly so. Your child probably is too.

Even today, with everything we know about mental health conditions, there is still a stigma attached to them. (This is the belief that other people might think badly of you or your child because of their mental health condition or that you or your child feel shame, disgrace, or just different because of it.) So, you might be feeling uncomfortable and hesitant to share your situation with friends and family.

The good news is that you really aren’t as alone as you think. So take a deep breath, keep reading, and know that getting help is possible.

Help Is Here

By looking through the pages we have in this section, you can learn:

• Where to find mental health resources for your child.
• More about your child’s rights to mental health services.
• When to get mental health help for your child.
• How to manage challenging behaviors and support your child’s behavioral health.
• What you can do to support a child through a mental health crisis.
• Ways to recognize the effects of trauma on children and ways to support your child before or after a traumatic event.
• More about psychiatric medications, in case you are thinking about them for your child.

You can also connect with other parents who might be asking the same questions, or feeling the same things you are feeling as you start this journey. And you can find services and support groups near you on our Services, Groups, and Events page.