negative impacts of Family Conflicts on children’s Health

Family relationships have necessary links with the development of a child. The relationship of a child with his parents is very important. In fact, this relationship plays the role of a ladder in the development of the child throughout his lifespan. Similarly, family conflicts badly affect a child’s psychological as well as physical health. The parents should consider these negative impacts of family conflicts on their children’s health.

We can categorize families ranging from supportive and nurturing to cold and neglectful. Every category has effects on a child’s physical as well as mental health. Excellent or ideal family relationships result in better grooming and protection of the overall health of the child.

On the other hand, we observe that frequent family conflicts can result in different problems in the growth of the child. These conflicts may lead to emotional instability, behavioral problems, and sometimes chronic illness.

Family conflict stamps its impacts upon every family. There isn’t any exemption available to any race or wealth bracket regarding this. Every family has a difference of opinion or conflict at some point in its relationship.  

Some families have conflicts for a very short time and they are usually resolved very soon. But the continuous family conflicts like abuse, poverty, or mental instability have very bad impacts.

Today, we will discuss the continuous family conflicts and their effects on the mental health of the family members.

We will also discuss the different ways or methods that can help in resolving these parental conflicts. The settlement of parental issues in a positive manner always results in stronger mental health and vice versa.

So, let’s start with family conflict and its impacts on the mental health of family members.

negative impacts of Family Conflicts on children’s mental Health

Any kind of conflict has its effects on the mental health of the family members involved. In combined family systems these conflicts may lead to severity due to the close relationships and contacts of the family members.

These family conflicts have damaging physical and emotional effects on a young child. If a child is not provided with a safe environment to groom, his brain can develop differently, making him extra conscious or alert all the time. This situation may lead to post-traumatic stress syndrome, anxiety, or depression.

Research shows that negative family relationships or non-supportive families usually lead to increased stress on mental health resulting in physical symptoms. The serious and repeated conflicts between the families result in the mental sickness of the participants. 

It is the family support that ensures mental health, when a family doesn’t support it, it damages the mental health.

Abuse and Its Effects on Mental Health

Abuse, whether it is mental or physical has very bad and negative impacts on mental health. A mental health problem can occur in a child as a result of abuse. In severe cases, it becomes very difficult to manage such problems.

The intensity of the mental problems depends on the seriousness of the abuse, its time period, and the mental health of the person who has been abused. The mental disorder in an abused child can become very deep and may last for years.

Damage may persist into adulthood

The mishandled interparental conflicts put such deep mental health impacts that a child can carry into adulthood. The mental health and well-being of a child clearly look damaged due to the low quality of parents’ relationship even in his adult age. Parents who engage in a negative way of interaction for years, usually expose their children to chronic interparental conflict during the development of their children. Children always model their parents and there is always a strong probability that children may follow or adapt their parents’ pattern of interaction in their own relationships, which may result in further damaging their mental health.

Chronic Stress & Its Impacts on Mental Health

Chronic stress badly affects the mental health of a person. It can develop serious mental health issues such as anxiety or depression.

The person affected by chronic stress can have relief with the help of family members. In serious cases, the patient may require therapy.

If you think that your family is negatively impacting your mental health continuously, you should arrange an appointment with a therapist or counselor. The therapist or counselor will guide you on the strategies for coping with family members as per your symptoms.  

If your family is not supporting you regarding your mental health, then,  you must talk to your doctor, therapist, or healthcare provider who can help you in understanding the options so that you can get the necessary help you need.

Parents need to change for their children

There are different ways that parents can adopt to avoid or prevent such kind of injurious impacts. Studies reveal that having a dialogue with parents regarding these issues or conflicts can help them in handling conflicts more constructively. Parents only need to sit together and discuss the issues between them. They only need to treat each other kindly. Studies show that these interventions lead to improvements in children’s mental well-being. However, these improvements may last for a short period of time.  Also, parents’ mental health can be developed positively by such interventions. There are some vital associations in the family with peers, other adults, or a sibling that also put an impact on children of interparental conflict.

Parents who get stuck in poor ways of managing conflict must leave these poor ways of handling conflicts. They are never late for exercising healthier ways of handling differences. It is never too late to start but it’s best to start early. Parents should start before children are exposed. If they don’t handle these conflicts timely and positively, the occasional negative interactions may become so regular that nobody realizes what would be the outcome of the relationship of a loving couple or what would happen to the children.

So, It’s the parents’ responsibility to provide a peaceful and healthy environment for their children to help them grow as normal and healthy individuals. They should not ignore the negative impacts of family conflicts on their children’s health. They must ignore their minor differences for the sake of their children so that they may become psychologically healthy adults and resultantly fruitful citizens.