At certain ages, children seem like the famous box of pralines to their parents – you never know exactly what’s inside. A differently developing view of the world, different values, an own language, and extreme burdens from modern life, school and their circle of friends come to the fore. Naturally, the worlds of children and parents drift apart and commonalities disappear, and suddenly parents cannot easily answer themselves “what’s going on with my teen?”
Parents often say to me that their teens look happy and seem to have a good time with their friends but appeared to be defiant and angry at home.
parents hear often “I am fine”
Cause parents hear often “I am fine” when they try to talk to their teens. Parents are often surprised when they hear from psychiatrists that their teenagers are depressed. It is important to understand that depression in adolescents can manifest itself differently from depression in adults.
The typical depression symptoms of an adult are usually sad, low mood, lack of motivation, or pleasure. Yet for adolescents, they express as irritability, defiant, anger outbursts, which we call externalized behaviors.
Some Teens may turn to substances to cope with symptoms
Some teens may turn to substances to cope with their symptoms. As a result, parents feel guilty not being able to identify those symptoms earlier. Very often adolescents do not share their feelings to their parents, which is not surprising. As much as they are defiant to their parents, they want to be seen as an independent, capable and strong by their parents.
Build a new common bridge of understanding. Walk this bridge together – honestly and on eye level.
We at Beverly Mental Health Service walk this difficult road with you and your family members. We help listen and make the right decisions.
You will never walk alone.