Mobile Apps Helping Children’s Mental Health Better Than Parents?

Mental illness has been soaring among teens. Reportedly, women aged 16-24 are having more mental illness in England. Efforts have been taken to carry out effective programs in schools and workplaces to reduce the risk of mental illness and suicidal tendencies.

Today, teens have been more addicted to technology compared to the previous centuries when people were more involved in physical activities. Keeping that in mind, there are a lot of apps and websites that have been developed to help children suffering from mental illness. Silent Secret, is a free app for people aged 11-19, where teens can share their secrets in a safe and anonymous way.

As per The Guardian, Silent Secret has 58,000 users online since it launched two years ago. Young people talk to each other and solve their emotional problems. Another website named HeadMeds has been launched by Young Minds to help teens find out about mental health medication by posting their queries, which they do not ask parents or doctors.

However, will that really help? Although teens are habituated of following what comes up in apps, parenting plays a crucial role. Apps can mislead but parents can put it in the right stream. Programs like Triple P positive parenting program offers a range of programs to parents from community seminars to group seminars of 8 weeks.

Triple P programs in UK are trying to reach the early stages of mental illness in the teens. U.K.'s Triple P employee Mark Penman said, "The idea is to get in early... rather than it getting to the stage where more serious mental health issues develop."

Triple P programs have reportedly lowered anxiety in many teens. Centre for Mental Health has called for more such programs in the U.K. According to a study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, the findings suggested that a study on humans and primates reveal that anxious offspring are particularly sensitive to the impacts of parenting.

With that said, parenting needs to be monitored. This relationship is important for a child's development as future relationships judge and depend on this. Parents must not depend on technology to make lives simpler rather enhance parent-child relationship.