Preventing Mental Illness in Your Young Adult with and Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation) By: Grandma Jeddah

      Preventing Mental Illness in Your Young Adult with and Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation) 

By: Grandma Jeddah

 Mental illness in young adults with mental retardation ( intellectual disabilities) is quite common as mentioned earlier.  

    Preventing problems is always preferable to solving them. Here are some tips from Helpguide.com that can help you foster healthy mental health with your child.

·         Learn what depression is.

·         Realize that medication is not suitable for long-term use.

·         Know that other treatments can be just as effective as medication.

·         Provide a strong bonding relationship by being there for your child to talk to.

·         Encourage friends, family, and others to befriend your child for social support.

·         Know that treatment takes time, and improvement can advance and regress at times.

·         Provide your child with sufficient exercise.

·         Provide your child with healthy, balanced meals.

·         Seek out ways of reducing your child’s stresses.

·         Teach your child relaxation techniques and outlets.

·         Expose your child to hobbies.

           Few outsiders understand the difficult struggle children with special needs live daily, dealing with constant disappointment and failures, knowing they don’t understand things that others grasp easily, tripping over their feet while others don’t, stumbling over words, and constantly being asked to repeat themselves for clarification.  Failure is their constant companion.  Many develop strong wills or abrasive personalities as a result of their continuous struggles to cope with their clumsiness, misplaced comments, mispronounced words and other idiosyncrasies. Parents should keep this in mind when they themselves become frustrated with managing the demanding and unruly behavior of their child with special needs.

Grandma Jeddah is the mother of 11 children and 16 grandchildren. She has taught hundreds of students for over 30 years at an Islamic school in Los Angeles, California.She is the author of, Discipline without Disrespecting: Discover the Hidden Secrets of How to Effectively Discipline Your Muslim Child--And Keep Your Peace of Mind while at It.  Order her e-books at:  http://www.grandmajeddah.com/