Children who are shy, introverted, and inhibited, often face challenges as adults and can easily develop complications with anxiety and depression due to some issue with peer-to-peer social interaction. If you are the parent of a child who is considered to be somewhat inhibited, you may want to consider how your interaction with your child can help to prevent these more advanced mental disorders from developing.
When a child is introverted or inhibited at a very young age, there is a greater tendency for parents to accommodate a child’s personality and to protect their timid character from interaction from other adults and children. By protecting your shy child, however, you may find that your child is at a greater risk to develop anxiety when subjected to necessary social interactions as they get older. To avoid this degree of anxiety, parents can learn how to assist a child in preventative care for mental health disorders even when the shy personality traits are not negated.
For parents who are managing the health of their children alone, and in single parent homes, the needs of a shy child can be far greater and it is for this reason that single parent income support includes services for preventing anxiety and depression in children with these personality traits.
Enlisting the services of a pediatric mental health professional is important to your child’s mental health and is especially important at a very young age. The sooner you can recognize your child’s tendency toward inhibition, the better your chance at working to prevent anxiety and other secondary mental health complications. While a child psychologist may recommend working with your child to change the personality to a more extroverted personality type, the primary focus of your prevention program should, instead, work to minimize risks for anxiety and depression.
Without proper intervention and prevention, children who have inhibited and shy personality types will often develop anxiety and depression with aging and these, ultimately, can lead to decreased quality of life. With the right life tools to manage these secondary health complications, your child will have a better quality of life despite their inhibitions and relatively shy personality type. Keep in mind that you may not be able to pull your child out of inhibition, but you can have some influence over your child’s anxiety and secondary mental health risks.
Sources: American Journal of Psychiatry 2010; 167: 1518-1525
