Is Your Child Disturbed?

Tips to identify when a child is disturbed or troubled

How do you know if a child is troubled or disturbed? Several years of handling children has clearly indicated that it is sometimes not so easy to detect a disturbed child. The act of paying detailed attention to quite a number of things/acts will assist any individual in identifying if a child is disturbed.

What does it means for a child to be disturbed?

Depending on the age bracket in question, child disturbances can be linked to a lot of issues based on the age. Beginning from the time a child’s diaper gets wet without being attended up to the adolescent age when the child undergoes emotional battle. For the purpose of this write up I will narrow down to age bracket of 12 – 19 years.

From age 12, which is termed pre-teen, the puberty stage comes with various changes in both boys and girls. At this stage there are lots of moods changes and swings which most of them do not even understand.

Many of these children are bottled up and yet burning and hurting and there is no confidence on who to discuss their heart felt concerns with. This has nothing to do with whether it is a boy or a girl, haven’t we heard of boys that were so disturbed to the point of committing suicide or even girls who had had to take their own lives. Some of them grow up with seed of bitterness and ended up living miserably.

In this article we shall be looking at the symptoms of troubled or bottled up children and how we can assist them in opening up.

Symptoms of a Disturbed Child

§  Mood display in terms of showing a state of unhappiness or depression

§  Always on the edge as a result of low self esteem

§  Wrong mindset to building and maintaining interpersonal relationship with peers, teachers and even family

§  Fear and lack basic trust

§  Prefer to survive in silence

§  Excessive drowsiness/daytime sleepiness

§  Low performance in studies and general learning

§  Nightmares

§  Hyperactivity

The list is endless and largely depending on the age bracket.

Tips in assisting a Disturbed Child

Make them feel important: Every child wants to be appreciated, loved and respected. In an atmosphere of genuine love, openness of heart and Godly correction, children easily open up to discuss matters of the heart.

Encourage their Curiosity: A child that is afraid to contribute or express personal views on issues easily find themselves bottled up with lots of unsaid and yet meaningful contributions. That not to say that when things are said out of context they should not be corrected. It is good to allow them have the boldness to express their views.

Be sensitive to them: Sometimes the adults get so carried away with so many happenings around them that the needs of the children are not attended to. Emotional development of the children are so important and are the stage they require the right counsel and advice on how to comport themselves with dignity without becoming a victim of emotional abuse.

Feed them with the Word of God: A child of prayer is never lost. As the children grow to love the Word and create time to study the Word as rightly said in the book of Joshua 1:8, their affection for the things of God will be on the increase. The Word will sharpen their lives.

Building Godly Relationship: Children need to know at early stage that wrong relationship is the quickest way to have their destiny in God destroyed. They need to know how to handle peer pressure, bullies and how to create personal boundary that is healthy. I Cor. 15:33

Self-Acceptance: There is need for children to learn personal acceptance, if they go about life with low self-esteem, they will be seen by others the way they too see themselves. In addition personal hygiene and physical development of a child is likewise important. Personal acceptance is very key. For girls from age 12, acne, body odour and monthly period require proper guidance and counselling. If all these are not well handled, could result in disturbance.