HOUSTON — Since 1992, April has been recognized as Stress Awareness Month. Digital anchor Brandi Smith chatted with Legacy Community Health’s Roma Bhatt about how you can identify when your kids are stressed and help them navigate it.
(Watch the full conversation in the video above.)
Brandi Smith: I think as a parent of teens myself, you walk a fine line, right? Because you, you want that relationship with them. But you don't want to smother them because they're trying to find their independence and their personality, and also just being a teenager. So I guess what, what would be your tips to kind of foster that?
Roma Bhatt: Yeah, I think first of all, what you said is most important. Let's acknowledge that you may not be their favorite person to talk to about hard stuff. Once upon a time, you might have been, but it's kind of changing. And so we have to first recognize how we feel about that and how it might kind of hurt and stings a little bit. But you know, then once we acknowledge that, let's move to a space: How can I create a safe place for my teenager? How can I make it inviting and comforting and supportive so that they're going to want to talk to me about the hard stuff?
Smith: One of the hard things is when they're stressed what can parents look for? What can parents do if they start to see some signs that their kids might be overwhelmed?
Bhatt: The first thing is to notice it and name it. So connect with your child, talk to them about what you're noticing and observing. And check in and ask, 'I'm noticing that you're starting to kind of behave in these ways. And I'm wondering if you're having a hard time managing something. Can we talk about it?' Invite them to share with you what they're comfortable sharing, and then validate, validate, validate. Normalize. If you need to self-disclose a little bit to talk about how tough managing teenage years was for you, this is the time to get real with them, share in an age-appropriate way. But sometimes that can really help our teens understand like, 'OK, yes, mom is mom, dad is dad, grandparents are grandparents, but they once were teens and stuff was hard for them too.' Noticing what's going on, asking them to share and talk about it, and then trying to connect with them before you start throwing solutions at them. Connect and see: how can I help you feel better and manage your stress better?