成人快手

Three generations of the same family sit around a table - what can they learn from each other?

According to , 49% of parents still feel that there is a stigma around their child having a mental health problem.

In this film, TV presenter and NHS clinician Dr Ranj reacts to real families as they play Never Ever Has My Child鈥 and discuss what their responses say about parenting and attitudes towards mental health today, compared to previous generations.

"Never ever has my child been unable to share their feelings'

In the Never Ever Has My Child鈥 series of films on Parents' Toolkit, children ask their parents and grandparents to answer parenting statements, like 'Never Ever Has My Child鈥 Acted like they know it all', or 'Never Ever Has My Child鈥 Lied about where they are鈥, with a 'Yes', or 'No'.

Click here to watch the full Never Ever Has My Child鈥 series, with special episodes on mental health, teenagers and school.

Here Ranj is reacting to one father's response to 'Never Ever Has My Child鈥 Been unable to share their feelings'.

"I was never able to share my feelings. It was seen as 鈥極h, just shut up鈥 you know. 鈥極h that can鈥檛 be true.鈥 鈥極h, in our days it was far more difficult.鈥 So I just kept my feelings within myself.Whereas you (his son) are able to share those feelings."

Dr Ranj agrees that young men and boys have the ability to express their feelings moreso now than ever before. "In the past, there鈥檚 been this mentality that you have to just knuckle down and get on with it 鈥 to stop being 鈥榳eak鈥, as it were. But fortunately, those attitudes are changing."

Now he thinks a parent's job is to ensure that, when their child does open up, we are there to offer help and support.

However, if you need help getting your child to open up about their emotions and mental health, this Parents' Toolkit article has advice about how to start the conversation.

In the next clip, the father goes on to say that he feels there is a particular taboo around men talking about their feelings in the South Asian culture, something which Dr Ranj relates to first-hand鈥

"When I was growing up, my mum went through a really difficult time. She had quite severe depression when I was in my early teens. We鈥檇 never really spoken about mental health difficulties or issues before then. My dad has never spoken about his feelings."

"As a child, when your family experiences that, it can be really scary if no-one is talking to you about it. And that was the problem. As a grown-up and as a professional, I know completely differently. I just wish I鈥檇 known that when I was growing up."

"As parents and grandparents we need to be there to support our children and our young ones. Your job is not to be a therapist. Your job is actually just to create that safe space where your child or your young person can come and speak to you. And when they do come to you, listen, but don鈥檛 judge."

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