Social support is important for children with mental illness

Learning Goal: I’m working on a nursing discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

2 different replies for the following forum, at least 200 words each, APA format, scholarly articles less than 5 years old

Social support is important for children with mental illness. Social support includes physical and psychological help from people that helps patients become comfortable and avoid mental stress. Social support makes mentally ill children feel wanted and therefore improves their welfare. Social support can be obtained from professionals and nonprofessionals. Therefore, providers can be family and friends or nursing professionals with experience and education in dealing with the various issues that patients may face. Regardless, both sources of support have advantages and limitations.

Social support from mental health professionals and nurses has benefited from viewing patients’ issues from professional perspectives. Nurses are trained in psychology and theories of growth. Hence, they understand what to expect from people of different ages (Lu et al., 2018). Support from such parties may be beneficial because it seeks to solve patients’ issues from professional perspectives and therefore apply effective strategies to solve patient issues. For instance, nurses may apply their knowledge of nursing theories to help children access the physical and psychological help they may need, such as counseling. Nurses may also provide care bound by healthcare ethics, respect patient privacy, and apply research evidence to support their choices. Incorporating healthcare ethics may protect patients from adverse issues like stigma and others. However, professionals are bound by their professional obligations and, therefore, may be limited from being very close to the patients unless they are family or friends.

On the other hand, social support from family and other personal networks can benefit from the personal relationships between the caregiver and the child affected. Therefore, usually, such people understand the mentally ill person and are likely to give help that is considerate of their personal needs and characteristics (Lian et al., 2020). For instance, brothers and parents understand children better than healthcare providers. Therefore, they are likely to support in more comfortable environments. Also, family and friends’ social support is free and therefore accessible to children without any costs.

In conclusion, mental illness requires that children be given enough support from their families, social networks, and professionals. Sometimes, people have to choose between two options. Professionals’ support is advantageous because it involves using evidence from studies and guidelines. Professionals also apply ethics and will ensure to protect the child from any harm. On the other hand, informal social support usually has the advantage of the caregivers knowing the child personally and understanding their issues well.