What is the biggest tyrant of your child's mental health?

When it comes to depression, want to know the biggest tyrant of them all? The Tyranny of the Shoulds.

The greater the number of shoulds and musts, and the harder our kids hold onto them, the more likely they are to experience depression. Because life has a habit of failing to meet our expectations.

Here are some examples of The Tyranny of the Shoulds:
· I should perform perfectly at work, or at school.
· My friends must not leave me out of their plans for the weekend.
· Life should be fair.

​Help your child by trying these three things:
1. Replace “shoulds” with “I would like”s,
2. Help them to assess how important, on a scale of 0-10, is this “should”, and
3. Learn the benefit of mistakes and failed expectations in the process of developing resilience and emotional wellbeing.
 
I hope you found this useful. I would love to hear your thoughts, whether that is via private message or comments below.
 
Chris Warren-Dickins
Psychotherapist & Author of The Beast of Gloom (a children’s book about depression)
 
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