In the latest Growing Faith animated video from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called “Messy Room Meltdown,” Damien learns that Heavenly Father can help him when he is feeling anxious.
Damien becomes overwhelmed and emotional when he is supposed to clean his room. He prays to Heavenly Father for help, and his older brother and friend teach him different strategies and coping mechanisms as they help him clean up — one item at a time.
“It wasn’t how I thought I’d get help, but it’s what I needed,” Damien says to his parents afterward.
The video is available on the Gospel For Kids YouTube channel, along with others in the Growing Faith series.
Like in the video, it is possible for children to feel overwhelmed and not able to accomplish a task. Parents can watch the video with their children and have a conversation about it afterward.
Some questions parents might ask children include:
- Have you ever felt like the boy in the story?
- How does that feel in your body?
- What do you do when you feel like him?
- When you feel like him, what helps you feel better?
- How can breaking big tasks down help you feel better?
- When we ask Heavenly Father to help us, what does He expect us to do?
- Does He usually just solve our problems for us?
- How have your prayers been answered when you have prayed for help in the past?
Church resources for emotional health and anxiety
The Church provides counseling resources to help leaders support members on a wide range of emotional and social issues. Additional resources for emotional health for members of all ages include the following:
- Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience
- Building resilience from Gospel Library
- Addiction recovery groups
- Spouse and family support groups
- Strengthening Marriages and Families courses
- Family Services counseling
- Family Services consultations for leaders
- Life Help resources from Gospel Library
- Life preparation lessons for seminary students to help youth learn how to manage their physical and emotional health.
