PMHC - Preventative Mental Health for Children

Mental health covers many parts of our lives, like emotions, relationships, personal growth, and stress. Prevention means taking action before problems appear. Just like builders lay a strong foundation to avoid future issues, doctors help patients stay healthy with check-ups and advice. Teaching kids prevention early on can build emotional awareness, coping skills, and communication abilities to reduce risks of mental health issues later in life.

Preventive mental health encompasses all the actions and measures we can take to mitigate or reduce the occurrence, spread, and recurrence of mental disorders. Mental health prevention is a collective effort involving both individuals and society as a whole. On an individual level, there are steps you can take to support your own mental well-being and that of your close ones. On a broader scale, organisations and governments work towards promoting mental health within the entire community.

Why is the endeavour to prevent mental illness so crucial? Does dedicating efforts to maintaining mental well-being truly yield positive outcomes? Absolutely! There are numerous advantages associated with preventive mental health, extending its positive impact to various aspects of life, including physical health and academic performance.

As humans, we exist within a complex biopsychosocial framework, where our physical health influences our psychological well-being, our psychological health influences our social interactions, and our social health, in turn, affects our physical well-being. These domains are interconnected, and efforts to nurture our mental health have ripple effects on our biological and social dimensions. Enhancing our mental well-being contributes to overall well-being.

Practical benefits of preventive mental health encompass reduced healthcare expenditures, diminished time spent in treatment, enhanced productivity in work or academics, alleviation of personal distress and suffering, and the cultivation of stronger social support networks. Furthermore, promoting emotional literacy empowers children to identify concerns promptly, whether in themselves or others. Early intervention in mental health issues invariably leads to more favourable outcomes. Here at Small Steps, we offer primary mental health prevention. This means we are the ‘first steps’ and can give the ‘first tools’ for children and their carers to add to their toolkit of ways to thrive in today's hectic world.