Emotions: Toddlers vs. Elders
Emotions play a huge role in child development and mental health for anyone, even if you’re feeling a bit old. By the age of three, toddlers have a range of emotions that can change very rapidly. These emotions include: happiness, embarrassment, guilt, empathy, envy, fear, and shame. By this time they will also start to pick up on the emotion of frustration and they tend to throw fits to express it. This is why children need to develop strategies for managing their emotions. Helping children with these strategies can help them be more calm when problems arise, have healthy relations with friends and family, less risk of mental illness, and effective problem solving skills.
Try explaining emotions to children by discussing how their favorite TV show or movie characters feel about situations in the show, ask them how they think the characters may feel when watching with them so they get a better understanding of their own feelings. Remember everyone is different and may not understand the feelings they feel, especially at a really young or old age. It’s very important to teach children how to maintain a healthy mind because it will help them be able to express their emotions more clearly by understanding the emotion they feel. Children rely on us, so we must put in the effort and care that they need to be happy, healthy-minded individuals.
Emotions on elders are just as important as emotions to babies. Older people may seem to get emotional easily because the natural body changes connected with aging may increase a persons risk of feeling depressed. So many things can affect your emotions, like lower concentrations of blood, and the nervous system can contribute to dementia, mental impairment and several side effects of depression. Since everyone is different, some older adults may feel more positive and less negative compared to how they felt in earlier years of their lives. It is always important to check on your loved ones and help them have a smile. Ways you can spend time with your elders or showing you care about their mental is letting them be themselves, play their favorite games with them, and go through a photo book they will definitely enjoy!
Last but not least, you should always check up on and care for little ones and your elders they need an extra smile. Things get rough for everyone, talk about those emotions and explain how you feel those emotions too and share coping strategies with those who need. We should all help everyone’s brains be more positive!
