MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — Parents are being urged to care for their mental health, even as they assist their children to manage their own.

The word of advice was given by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, during a recent mental health and wellness parenting seminar at the Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort and Spa in St James.

According to a JIS release on Monday, the Minister told parents to create a safe space for themselves for stress relief or confide in someone they can trust to care for their mental health.

“We say to young people, ‘find your safe space, whatever that safe space is’, and we help them to define that safe space, which is where you can go to seek refuge, your downtime, the place for self-care, or maybe someone you trust, such as your pastor, teacher, guidance counsellor, mother or father. But I believe that even before you start to give them support and identify the safe space, you need to understand that you need one too,” Dr Tufton said.

The Minister added that good parenting starts with a sense of self-awareness as to what their roles and responsibilities are.

“You cannot carry out that role when, while addressing the problem you are trying to solve, you yourself have that problem and do not know how to solve it,” the Minister said, underscoring that in order to ensure that children have some mental balance, parents must reassure children that they can trust them.

“The ability of a parent or guardian to sit and have a talk with your child is a major intervention that is positive for the child. It is important for the child to understand that they trust you enough to sit and talk with you,” the Minister encouraged.

He went on to implore parents to take a gentler approach in guiding their children in the right direction.

“You have to guide them in a [particular] direction, and that, more often than not, takes reasoning, conversation and encouragement rather than deprivation or abuse,” Dr Tufton outlined.

Some 50 parents participated in the session, which was held to provide them with resources to improve their parenting skills and their children’s mental development.