These Teen Mental Health Issues Are More Common Than You Think
As a parent, it’s important to be aware of the challenges that can face your child. Particularly, you need to consider the health issues that might impact them. Parents often focus on physical health issues but mental health problems should be considered as well. Issues with mental health can cause a child to feel alone and isolated. Here are some of the more common mental health issues in teens that you do need to be aware of as a parent.
Addiction
First, you should think about the issue of addiction. It’s commonly assumed that addiction refers to either drugs or alcohol and this is not the case. Addiction can refer to a whole host of possibilities. For instance, you could get addicted to technology and experts are warning that this is a real concern. Particularly when kids spent most of last year inside their home. Alcohol and drugs are the focus because they are seen as the most dangerous. It’s important to recognize addiction must be tackled in stages. Getting ‘sober’ is only half the battle. You also need to tackle the issue of the dry drunk where behavior and personality are still impacted.
Self Harm
Self-harm is alarmingly common amongst teens. Some reports suggest that 1 in 7 teens may self-harm before the age of 18. That’s important to understand because self-harm is often thought of as a cry for attention. While this can be the case, self-harm can also be tied to feelings of self-loathing or depression.
It’s also important to note that teens don’t always self-harm in an area that is noticeable. It’s quite common for them to hide it in places that aren’t going to be seen such as their legs. You need to look for signs of this such as kids wearing jeans when it’s ice cream melting weather.
Depression
Next, you should think about the issue of depression. People often think that depression is something that hits you later in life. That’s not the case. Depression can impact you at any age and it’s even possible for young children to become depressed in the wrong circumstances.
Depression can also manifest itself in different ways such as through high levels of anxiety. If you are concerned about this, then you need to make sure that you do think about speaking to a therapist. They can help address your child’s depression and ensure that it doesn’t become far more severe over time.
Parents are often reluctant to contact a therapist. But it can stop the situation from becoming far worse and provide the support your child needs.
As you can see, it’s clear that certain mental health issues in teens are far more common than most parents would like to believe. It’s important to understand the concern here because then you can make sure that you are there to support and help your children with issues like this. There’s no problem here that can not be overcome and managed effectively with the right treatment and strategies in place.
