News, Advice, and Tips for Parenting Teenagers

Adolescence can be a time of considerable stress and conflicting emotions -- pressure that can lead to teen depression and thoughts of suicide.

According to a Dec. 19 examiner.com article by Lisa Rinaldi-Kohl, the key to helping teens is being aware of their moods and personality changes:

First, be aware of your family history. If depression or bipolar disorder run in your family gene pool, your child does have an increased chance of inheriting this depressive "gene." You wouldn't shun off a predisposition to diabetes would you? Illness is illness. Mental or physical. It deserves the same amount of respect in treatment. ...

So what can you do to help a teen who is depressed with suicidal thoughts? Get them to a doctor. Even if it's a primary care doctor, they can refer you to a mental health specialist. Starting a trail of treatment is very important. It will also give you a sense of "hope" knowing that you have done something productive in helping your child.

A lot of times substance abuse and alcohol also come in to play with a depressed teen. Alcohol or drugs are used to "self-medicate" the individual so that they feel less mental pain. When in actuality all it does is make the person more depressed. Alcohol is a depressant. It will not help, it will hinder.

Experiencing actual emotions, without them being masked by substance abuse, is totally necessary for treatment to be successful.

Labels: suicide, depressoin

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 1 Comment

An abundance of research shows that most teenagers do not get enough sleep, and that teen sleep deprivation is linked to lower grades, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. However, many parents tell researchers that they have trouble getting their teenagers to go to bed, according to an article in the Washington Post.

Most parents do not know what time their teenagers go to bed, according to Dr. Judith Owens, a researcher at Brown University Alpert Medical School, and most believe their teenagers go to bed much earlier than they actually do.

"There is a real disconnect," Dr. Owens said.

Teachers also told the Post that more students are falling asleep in class more often.

"It's not just the tired thing, but they are zoning out in class," said James Fernandez, principal of Albert Einstein High School near Washington DC. "It's a big problem. If you get a substitute in the classroom, they all go to sleep -- it's looky here, a 40-minute nap."

Nature and technology are the causes of teens' sleep deprivation. Most teens cannot fall asleep at early bedtimes, and that probably has an evolutionary basis. Teens like to stay connected with their friends into the wee hours, either via cell phone or computer. A Pew Institute survey found that 80% sleep with their cell phone nearby, and many prefer to wake up to receive new text messages.
 

Labels: suicide, technology, depressoin, sleep_deprivation

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment