Learning to handle emergencies and crisis situations
Giving your child a healthy sense of what may occur in life is important. One way to give them this reality check is to teach them how to respond in an emergency or crisis situation. This can be done by setting up a practice scenario that they are likely get into and then teaching them how to react appropriately. This could be anything from dealing with a bully at school, having an allergic reaction, or finding themselves lost and alone while out on an errand for mommy or daddy.
How to Begin
Step 1: Ask your child what type of emergencies and crisis situation concerned them the most. In what ways would they deal with this emergency? (i.e. A bully at school, friends having a party they wasn't invited to, getting lost while running an errand for mom or dad)
Step 2: Discuss with your child if there are any children or adults in the community that could be willing to help your child out if he/she gets into a difficult situation. Discussing these people ahead of time, you may even want to have the adults sign a contract stating that they will watch out for your child in certain situations. This will let your child know that he/she is not alone and there are caring adults in the community that will help them out.
Step 3: Take the time to discuss how they could handle each emergency or crisis situation. While discussing these situations you can also teach them what they should do before, during, and after a particular situation takes place. For example, if talking about bullying at school, discuss with your child what would happen if another child were to pick on him or her and how he/she would respond. If talking about parties, discuss what would happen if the child was not invited and how they would react. If talking about being lost and alone, discuss what they would do if they were unable to find home.
Step 4: Have your child participate in fire drills regularly. This way should there be a time of emergency when there is a real fire, your child will already be familiar with the drill.
Step 5: Discuss how you child would deal with certain situations that are common in society today for example bullying, drugs, teen sex, peer pressure, etc. These situations are often something that we as parents don't want to talk about because we may think it will scare our children or not wanting to think that they may already be exposed to these situations. However, it is a good reality check to teach them how to deal with these situations. For example, bullying, show your child that you are a willing listener by letting them vent any frustration they have. However, if things do not get any better and your child is still experiencing bullying at school, then you may want to talk with the school about what type of action needs to be taken on behalf of the bully.
If you give your children the opportunity to feel what life can throw at them, it will help them react appropriately when a real crisis strikes and they will be more prepared to handle whatever life has in store for them when they grow up.
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I found this article intriguing because I was thinking about kids and a crisis or emergency situation. As an adult I have to prepare myself for emergencies but I never thought about the stress placed on a child and how it could affect them. As a parent, I always want to protect my children from any possible evil in the world but sometimes there is nothing we can do to protect them from potential danger or death. We are often preparing for the worst but still trying to keep our children happy and safe so that they are well adjusted when they leave home to go out into the world. I think the author of this article is right when he/she mentioned that there are people in the community who can help your child out if ever in a crisis situation. It is very important that you teach your child how to handle a crisis or emergency so that he/she will be able to function on their own. No matter how hard you try to keep your children safe, they need to learn on their own and some things we can't always protect them from - the good and the bad.
Posted by Tesh at 11:12 PM
This article will provide you with information about various medications used for treating mental illness. These medications work very well for some people and often have negative side effects. However, if you are looking for alternative medication to treat your mental illness then you should know about these drugs. These medications help in regulating the level of chemicals that are present in your brain that are responsible for different mental conditions. If you have any kind of mental illness then it is important to understand the importance of medication and how it can help in treating your condition.
This article discusses the following meds available for treating mental illness: Antipsychotic medications Antidepressants Mood stabilizers Anti-anxiety medications Anticonvulsant medications
What are the Antipsychotic Medications?
These meds are used for treating various mental issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and excessive aggression. These drugs are also used to control symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, one should not use antipsychotic for treating anxiety symptoms or insomnia.
Some of the common antipsychotic medications are: Haloperidol (Haldol) Olanzapine (Zyprexa) Quetiapine (Seroquel) Risperidone (Risperdal) Ziprasidone (Geodon)
How do Antipsychotic Drugs Work?
Antipsychotic medications work by blocking the activity of certain receptors in your brain. It is believed that these drugs work for treating mental illness by blocking receptors that affect dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine and serotonin are two chemicals found in your brain which are involved in transmission of nerve signals between different regions. Neurotransmitters have been identified as being responsible for causing psychotic and mood disorders. Therefore, it can be said that these drugs help in treating mental illness by controlling how the chemicals in your brain work.
Clinical studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of antipsychotic medications to treat mental illness. If you take these drugs then they can significantly improve your mood and reduce irritability and delusions. According to the results of these studies, people who took these drugs experienced fewer psychotic symptoms than those who took placebo.
Antipsychotic Medications Side Effects
There are numerous side effects associated with taking antipsychotic medications for treating mental illness.
Conclusion
Antipsychotic medications are very effective for treating severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe aggression. However, these medications have numerous adverse effects and side effects. If you are diagnosed with any kind of mental illness then it is important that you should consult your doctor to understand the benefits of these drugs and their side effects before taking them.
Posted by Tesh at 12:38 PM
This article provides knowledge about some common psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimers Disease (AD). AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes a loss of cognitive functioning in individuals over 65 years old.