By Maddie Kings

Positive mental health doesn’t just help us to feel better about the world and ourselves – it can enable us to do more with our lives. For teenagers with their careers ahead of them, being able to maintain good mental wellbeing at this crucial developmental stage could open doors in both their personal and professional lives.

However, for many young people, the pandemic years in particular had a profound impact on their mental health. Whether it contributed to feelings of anxiety or isolation and loneliness, these issues are still a core part of many young people’s psyches. According to one survey, 71% of college students noted an increase in feelings of stress and anxiety as a result of the pandemic. 

On top of this, teenagers have to cope with the pressures and expectations attached to school work, whilst also making decisions about their future education and careers. All of these factors combined can come to the detriment of their overall wellbeing. But today’s society is more well-informed than ever when it comes to the topic of mental health, and there are various avenues of support available to teens. 

For any young person, forming a strong and dependable system of support around them can offer so many benefits. In this post, we’ll explore what a support system consists of, and discuss the role that families in particular have to play within it. 

What Is A Support System?

A support system refers to the network of friends, family and other people you are able to contact and depend upon for emotional or physical support. A good support system will contain a mixture of people from different groups with different perspectives and personalities. For the majority of people, their friendships and family bonds will form the core of the support network, but other people in the system may include medical professionals, religious leaders or even coaches and teachers. 

A positive support system can be life-changing for those struggling with mental health. Having people who validate your experiences, offer words of encouragement, and provide practical support can make all the difference. Being surrounded by people who genuinely care about your wellbeing can be a game-changer. 

Good support systems not only provide emotional support but also help reduce stress, increase feelings of self-worth, and provide a sense of belonging and purpose. It is important to cultivate and maintain these relationships as they can boost resilience and help individuals navigate the often-challenging journey of managing mental health.

What Support Can Families Offer? 

While parents can’t necessarily solve all of their teenagers’ problems, families can play an important role in supporting their mental health. One key way to do this is simply by creating a safe and open space for communication, where they feel able to share their feelings and experiences without judgement or criticism. 

Additionally, parents can encourage healthy coping strategies like exercise, creative expression, and getting enough sleep. Though it’s more difficult to juggle these healthy outlets when school commitments become more demanding (like during exam season), encouraging them to hang onto the positive habits they’ve built up is key to giving their minds and bodies a chance to recover. 

It’s also important to recognize when help from a professional may be necessary, and to seek out resources like therapy or counseling when needed. If you think your teen could benefit from some external support, make sure you have an honest conversation with them before making any commitments without their consent. Any treatment they engage with will be most effective if they have bought into the idea, so make sure they are involved at every stage of this process.

How to Build A Network

For the majority of teens, support networks are built naturally over time, as bonds are formed with the people around them. However, sometimes we need to make a little extra effort to cultivate a healthy support network. This means both bringing helpful people in and removing any detractors who don’t have their best interests at heart. The process looks a little different for everyone, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so find out what works best for your teen, and encourage them to be open-minded to offers of support from those people they trust the most.