Having a child with mental health challenges can impact the dynamics of the entire family. While one child may require extra care and attention, it shouldn’t come at the expense of the other children in the home. Eva Carlston Academy provides suggestions on how to provide support for the siblings of a teen in crisis.

Parents of a teen battling with poor mental health should be as open and honest with their other children as is age appropriate. To avoid neglecting the needs of the teen’s siblings, parents should make sure to spend time with each child one-on-one, encourage them to express their emotions, and try to protect them from family conflict whenever possible.

Below are some ideas, strategies, and suggestions on how to support the siblings of a teen facing mental health challenges.

Be Open and Honest About the Teen’s Struggles Where Appropriate

While it may be tempting to protect the siblings of a teenager facing social or behavioral challenges from the reality of having a mental health concern, pretending that nothing is wrong will not make the problem go away. Even at a young age, other children in the family are likely to sense that something is amiss, which may lead to a more difficult discussion later on.

While broaching the topic, parents should consider the effects of having a sibling with mental health concerns on a child’s development and personal life. Explaining these sensitive topics to child, adolescent, and adult siblings based on their maturity and comprehension, as well how to approach the topic gently should be carefully considered.

By discussing the nature, background, and possible expressions of the child’s struggles, parents can cultivate empathy and understanding in their siblings. Being open about these issues also allows them to emphasize that the teen’s ill behavior is not intentional, and that the siblings shouldn’t take it personally, even when outbursts may appear to be directed toward them.

Parents should also consider letting others close to the family know that their child is going through a difficult time, which can provide additional support from others, allowing another support outlet for the family.

Avoid Letting the Teen’s Siblings Feel Compelled to Become Caretakers

Navigating the world as an adolescent is never easy, especially when a child feels surrounded by the stigma, conflict, and tension that often accompany mental health struggles. To avoid adding pressure to the siblings of a child struggling with personal mental health challenges, parents should neither ask nor expect the other children to take responsibility for their sibling.

While siblings can be a great source of support for a teen in crisis, they should not have to shoulder the burden of acting as a caretaker. There’s a difference between asking and encouraging a child to be patient with a sibling and charging them with tasks such as supervising, acting as a therapist, or stepping into a dangerous or scary situations to intervene.

Without trying to hide or deny the issue at hand, parents might also ask their other children to go to another room as they try to work through a contentious situation alone with their teen. This strategy is especially important when a struggling teen becomes violent, at which point it may also be necessary to call the police for assistance.

If a teen’s outbursts become disruptive to the stability at home, parents might also consider exploring more intensive behavioral modification programs or inpatient therapy to support the well-being of the teen, their siblings, and themselves. It may also be beneficial to encourage the children to speak to a counselor at school for support, and to talk things through.

Be There for the Teen’s Siblings and Show an Interest in Their Personal Lives

It can be hard to raise and pay adequate attention to multiple children at once, especially when one or more of those children is a teenager. The already-tough task of parenting becomes even more challenging when one or more of the children is experiencing health struggles, be they physical or mental.

While it is natural for parents to want to pour all their time and energy into supporting the child that needs them most at the moment, they should be careful to avoid neglecting their other children, who also need and deserve care and attention.

Parents should try their best to remember that while the challenges facing one child can impact the activities, emotions, and mental health of their siblings, each child also has a personal life centered around their own interests, challenges, and accomplishments.

Having parents that are too preoccupied with caring for another child to notice or acknowledge the events of their lives can lead to the development of well-sibling syndrome, with indicators such as bottling their emotions, feeling overlooked or rejected, developing their own mental health issues, and harboring lifelong resentment toward family members.

Conclusion

When one child’s mental health requires increased parental attention, the entire family dynamic often shifts, making the other children more likely to slide under their parents’ radar.

To avoid letting one child’s increased need for support lead to the neglect of the needs of other children in the house, parents should explain the situation to them, remove them from particularly heated situations whenever possible, and make sure that they are still receiving one-on-one attention for their own struggles, concerns, interests, and achievements.