Whether or not you are a currently a parent of teenage children, we’ve all been teenagers ourselves and have likely seen the difficulties that sometimes arise between parents or carers and their teenage children during this hormonally and emotionally charged period.

While I was school governor at a local comprehensive where our children attended, I came across a charity called stem4 founded by Dr Nihara Krause MBE, which has a whole host of resources covering issues affecting todays teenagers, including anxiety, self-harm, depression, eating disorders, social media, cyber bullying, confidence, resilience, school refusal and handling addiction. It can signpost users towards free apps and tools, conferences, reading material, podcasts and blogs.

The following is an extract from stem4’s website:

In 2022, stem4, recognising that parental mental health has an impact on child mental health, became the founder of UK Parent Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is #creatingpositiverelationships.

Parent Mental Health Day – 27th January – stem4

The Cost of Living Crisis, which so closely followed the pandemic, and increased concerns about digital harms, rising rates of mental ill health and the impact of stretched services have further increased parent and carer anxiety and, in some cases, helplessness and hopelessness.

Parent Mental Health Day 2024 is an opportunity for parents and carers to acknowledge and discuss their struggles and share in their achievements of connecting positively with each other and the whole family, and to learn ways to connect positively to maximise young people’s mental health.

Decades of psychological research has definitively proven one fact: The relationships we have MATTER and have a significant impact on our mental wellbeing. However, most parents and carers say their family’s quality of life has deteriorated over the past 12 months. They have more family arguments, spend less quality time together, and worry more about their family’s mental (35%) over their physical health (21%).

Is it any wonder that eight in ten (82%) parents/carers say that pressures often leave them feeling overwhelmed, and increasingly lonely, isolated and disconnected from friends and family, and even work colleagues.

At the same time, young people say their parents/carers don’t get them and if they were experiencing difficulties, only 23% would openly discuss their problems with their parents/carer. Of the 57% of young people who say they are experiencing mental health difficulties right now, less than half (47%) say they get any support from their family.

This is why this year’s Parent Mental Health Day is focusing on Creating Positive Relationships (#CPR). If you are a parent/carer whose relationships have flatlined, or just want to keep building on the great relationships you have, stem4 has created a booster pack to get your relationships (family, children, or even work colleagues) to keep surging on.

Gillian Edwards, WUN Advocate & Management Consultant, Skewb.