Family Time Needed for Good Mental Health
DEBRA COX, RETIRED 4-H EDUCATORThink back to a time when the whole family, including grandparents, gathered together…a time before cell phones and computers. Families would play board games, work in the kitchen canning fruits and vegetables to eat in the winter months, and talk. As the older generations pass away, many families don’t keep the tradition of getting together to share family history/stories, recipes, and allow the younger generation to know their relatives and their own history.
This time in the past was full of positive gathering, but it was also a time when mental health was not brought up much. In fact it was considered a stigmatizing or taboo topic. Yes, it was a simpler time, but many times mental health and stress were swept under the rug. But stress was real, both then and now.
Today, families are in full motion as they try to help their youth find a way in the world. Many young people are actively engaged in service learning, extracurriculars, and jobs to help pay for college in the future and avoid student loans. All of this busyness can create stress and affect mental health.
So how can families work to address this stress? One way would be to work with their youth if the young people have service-learning projects. Helping others can help some to feel less stress.
Another way families can combat stress is to take time to share recipes and get in the kitchen to cook together. Sharing a recipe from the planning to the finished creation can be a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon together or time during the holidays. This could be a way for the families to learn about their family history when sharing recipes from the older generations in their family.
Finally, we can all slow down and take a walk together outside in a park or even play in the mud puddles after a rain. Just the sights and sounds nature during a walk can help us to feel better and less stressed. Yes, life can be stressful, but we all (children included) need to find ways to de-stress and find peaceful time.
Families, in all sizes and generations, matter. Make family time a priority as the holiday season approaches. Often, the things a family does together can combat the stressors of life!
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DEBRA COX
Debra Cox is a retired 4-H educator and worked with youth in Mitchell County, Georgia. She currently serves as the Mitchell County Farm Bureau Women’s Chair and shares programming with youth in her county on agriculture. Debra is a mental health advocate and speaks up on this topic. When she worked with the 4-H programming she would do a presentation on “Less Stress for Students” and it included conversation on getting electronics out of the bedroom, healthy eating and drinks, study tips, and standing yoga. Debra has written several articles as it relates to mental health and often speaks to women’s group about mental health. Debra is married to a farmer; Hollis Cox from Pelham, Georgia and they have 3 adult children and 8 grandchildren.
She loves to paint, garden, create various crafts, get creative in the kitchen with the grands, sing, and spending time outside!
Debra does has dealt with anxiety in her adult life and often talks about it.
She has an MPA focused on Health Administration and Policy. One of the most important things she shared is that it is best to listen intently with your heart to others going through life ups and downs not to answer but to understand what they are going through!