The pandemic has brought parents closer to their children, and it is common to suddenly discover things that you might have missed when you spent so much time apart. Remote learning also means that you've been given the opportunity to see more of how your child behaves when they are confronted with academic tasks. Whether your child has always had a few challenging behaviors or this feels completely new, you can consider these five situations as signs that they could benefit from a visit to a behavioral health clinic.
They Are Destructive at Home
There are several behavioral health conditions that can cause children to become destructive. The symptoms of these disorders often become more obvious with stress. Most children might occasionally break a toy out of anger, but you should be concerned if it is more than that. Children who are destructive to multiple items around the home may need help from a therapist to learn more appropriate strategies for expressing their emotions.
They Refuse to Follow the Rules
With remote learning, you may have had to establish more rules around the house. For instance, you might have to enforce certain hours for school time and breaks. You may also have household rules that your child needs to comply with such as to clean their room or avoid being mean to their siblings. An occasional whiny moment is normal right now, but a child who consistently disobeys your rules may be dealing with an issue such as oppositional defiant disorder. A behavior analysis clinic provides serves that can help you figure out what is normal and what may need treatment.
They Engage in Repetitive Behaviors
When your child was at school, you might not have seen them engage in behaviors that help them feel calmer or more in control over the situation they are in at the moment. Now, however, you might have noticed that your child must repeat certain actions such as checking an email that they sent to make sure that there was not a mistake. They may engage in counting behaviors where you hear them do things a specific number of times over and over again.
While frequent hand washing is encouraged now, you may also need to be concerned if your child's personal hygiene becomes excessive enough to cause problems such as reddened or dry skin. The therapists at a behavioral health clinic can help determine if your child might be struggling with the symptoms of OCD, and they can offer strategies to keep their behavior from interfering with their daily life.
For more information, reach out to a behavioral health clinic.
