Teenage Mental Health
Mental Health > Teenage Mental Health
Out of all of the people that must eventually face some sort of mental health disorder, it is the most difficult for many parents to deal with their teenager’s mental health; particularly if the teenager is showing symptoms of any particular disorder. Teenage mental health disorders show many symptoms. Some of these symptoms include: becoming withdrawn or anti-social, angers easily, seems constantly on the defensive, depressed, slipping grades, and changes in friends. Don’t get me wrong, many of these symptoms are simply the product of a teenager’s raging hormones. That is why as parents know their children best, it is usually up to them to assess the real changes in their child.
Even though the stigmas about teenage mental health disorders are slowly ebbing many parent refuse to seek treatment or diagnosis for their teens because they fear persecution, they don’t want to be seen as bad parents, and some parent carry their own stigmas about mental health problems. Because so many parents are unwilling to acknowledge the possibility of a child’s having a mental health disorder many of these teens go undiagnosed. These days, that is becoming fatal to the teens themselves and other’s around them. Schools shooting are getting to be a rampant problem in all areas of the nation. One of the biggest things that should be looked at in these cases is how the parents could not have seen this coming. After the Columbine shootings, many people were asking why the parents of the shooters didn’t notice that their teen was dangerous. The simple answer to that question is that many parents see what they want to see in their kids, and others view their teen’s behavior as normal for their age.
Adults often view symptoms like depression, anti-social behavior, and defensiveness as a normal part of the hormones and growing up. Many of them are, but when behaviors become the controlling factor in a teen’s behavior, or if they are exercised without restraint; the teen should seek counseling; if for no other reason; then for the piece of mind of the parents and others. If your teen is behaving oddly, you should seek help. If money is a problem there are many free mental health clinics that can offer the same services for free. It really is better than waiting for a crisis to happen first.