Good Question: How can you talk to your children about mental health?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone.

In a new poll from the American Psychiatric Association, 43 percent of adults said the pandemic has had a serious impact on their mental health.

But it’s not just adults.

More than half of parents said they’re concerned about the mental health of their children.

Nearly half of them said the pandemic has caused mental health issues for at least one of their children.

They’ve been away from friends, learning from home and missing out on big milestone moments like proms, graduations and athletics -- all those things that make being a kid so fun.

But starting that conversation with your children can be hard.

Where do you begin?

It’s a Good Question we’ve been getting from parents.

WBTV’s Alex Giles asked mental health counselor Juliet Kuehnle.

“How can parents go to teenagers? It’s very vulnerable, adopting an attitude of curiosity,” Kuehnle said.

There are some signs to be on the lookout for, but Kuehnle said it’s not a bad idea to just do regular check-ups anyway.

But there are some things you shouldn’t do.

Kuehnle explains those to Alex Giles on this week’s episode of WBTV’s Good Question podcast.

Alex Giles is speaking to Kuehnle, and also to a mother who recently lost her son to suicide. She has a message for parents and teens.

Each week Alex Giles speaks with people who send us questions and gets answers from an expert.

You can subscribe to the podcast and listen right now:

WBTV’s Good Question podcast is an extension of what we do here on On Your Side Tonight, every night. We just launched this podcast last week in partnership with Queen City Podcast Network.

New episodes of “WBTV’s Good Question” are released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts every Wednesday morning.

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You can also go to WBTV.com/GoodQuestion to listen each week.

And if you have a Good Question, send it to us. We’ll try to answer it here on the show or on our podcast. Use the hashtag #OYSTonight on Twitter or email GoodQuestion@wbtv.com.

New episodes come down every Wednesday morning.

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