How to Talk to Your Child About Their Mental Health

Talking with your child about emotional topics, such as their mental health, can feel uncomfortable. This can be due to stigma, a lack of information, or fears of possible blame.

It may seem much easier to talk about other medical problems, such as food allergies, asthma, or diabetes. That can be because there is typically more information available about those conditions, they are easy to diagnose with medical tests, and people seldom think they are anyone’s fault.

Too frequently, people blame mental health challenges on the person experiencing them by saying they aren’t trying hard enough, they are doing something wrong, or they are exaggerating or making things up.

Openly talking to your children about mental health is a great way to help decrease this stigma. It can be tough to know how to start the conversation — check out the NAMI resources below to help!

“Meet Little Monster” Coloring & Activity Book—Available in 6 languages!

Meet Little Monster coloring and activity book

To help foster dialogue between children and the safe adults in their lives, and to provide children with a tool for expressing and exploring their feelings in a fun, creative, and empowering way, NAMI offers “Meet Little Monster,” a mental health coloring and activity book available for download at no cost.

Created by NAMI Washington, “Meet Little Monster” was developed in response to both the COVID-19 pandemic, when children were suddenly cut off from their friends, teachers, coaches, club leaders, and school counselors, and the Black Lives Matter protests for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd. The book also includes a list of mental health resources.

Download the free “Meet Little Monster” Coloring & Activity Book PDF file.