Looking Beyond Behaviour in Children — Children and Mental Health (Part One)
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
In recent years, mental health has become a widely discussed topic. Unfortunately, there is also a great deal of misunderstanding surrounding it.
Many people assume that mental health only affects adults. However, children can also experience mental health difficulties, even from a very young age.
Mental health refers to a person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how a child thinks, feels, learns, behaves, and copes with everyday life. Just as children can experience physical illnesses, they can also experience difficulties that affect their thoughts, emotions, or behaviour.
Many people often assume that if a child is struggling with their emotions or behaviour, it is simply "bad behaviour," poor upbringing, or a lack of discipline. In reality, a child may be dealing with an underlying mental health difficulty that affects how they regulate emotions, respond to situations, and interact with others. What may appear on the surface as defiance or laziness can sometimes be distress, anxiety, trauma responses, or emotional overwhelm that the child is unable to express clearly.
Mental health struggles affect people across all backgrounds, including children and young people. In severe cases, untreated mental health conditions can lead to suicide. The World Health Organization estimates that around 700,000 people die by suicide every year worldwide, which is roughly one person every 40 seconds.
Suicide is among the leading causes of death in young people globally, particularly from around the age of 10 and throughout adolescence and early adulthood, with the highest rates seen in the 15 to 29 age group. These realities affect people of all faiths and communities, and Muslims are not excluded from this. This highlights the seriousness of mental health struggles and the importance of awareness, care, and early support.
Yes. Some children are born with conditions or differences in how their brain develops, making them more likely to experience certain mental health or developmental disorders. Others may develop difficulties later in childhood due to a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.
This does not mean that every child born with a higher risk will develop a mental health disorder, nor does it mean parents are to blame.
Everything occurs by the decree (Qadr) of Allah, who is Most Wise.
Mental health difficulties can appear much earlier than many people realise. Some signs may be seen during infancy or the toddler years, while other conditions become more noticeable during preschool, primary school, or adolescence.
Young children may not be able to explain how they feel. Instead, they may show changes in their behaviour, sleep, eating habits, emotions, or development.
As children grow older, they may experience anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts, trauma-related symptoms, or other emotional struggles.
There is rarely one single cause. Instead, several factors may work together. These can include:
It is important to remember that not every child exposed to these situations will develop a mental health condition, and some children develop difficulties even without any obvious cause.
In the next part, we will discuss some of the most common mental health conditions seen in children, the signs parents and caregivers should be aware of, and how these conditions may present at different ages, while keeping our perspective rooted in the teachings of Islam.