Parents continue to Ignore Signs.
Why do parents ignore signs of Teenage depression in their children. How to talk about it with your child? You see the telltale signs. Your gut tells you something isn’t right. That your child may have fallen into a depression. But instead of checking it out, you choose to let it slide. For one, accepting the idea that what you thought was just a mild case of the blues in your child. Might actually be something far worse isn’t easy.
No not my child this time.
Teenage depression can trigger a host of negative feelings for parents. Something in you screams, No, not my child. So, confronted with the possibility a son or daughter might be depressed, parents choose to enter a state of denial. Your child may be undergoing a serious personality change, but you still want to picture him or her as that happy little kid running around on the playground in your imagination. Some parents blame themselves, questioning their parenting skills and past decisions… Is it my fault? What do I need to do differently? Am I a bad parent?
Will Parents continue to Ignore Signs of Depression in their child
Secondly, your possibly depressed son or daughter may not really want to talk to you about it. Depression and feelings of sadness can be difficult topics at any age, but for teens especially, talking about their feelings with a parent can be like going to the dentist to get a tooth pulled.
Parents don’t be blindsided thinking you can go through this alone.
“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.”
― Bill Ayers
Parents Ignore Signs Teenage Depression
Try not to be too hard on yourself. You’re not to blame. Being a teenager, or parenting one, is not an easy job. You probably remember what it was like for you in high school and growing up. Remember the emotional and physical roller-coaster of changes you underwent. High school tends to be a stressful time for teens. You don’t always know why you’re feeling what you’re feeling, or even how to talk about it to your peers, let alone a parent.
Do you know the signs of Depression?
Parents Ignore Signs of Depression
5 Ways to Encourage Your Teen To Tell You What’s Going On
Ignoring the symptoms of depression in a child is a big mistake for parents. Better to do something than nothing at all. Recovery from depression can be slow, once a person has fallen into it. So as a parent, you’ve got to confront your fears and talk to your child. It’s your job to find out what’s going on. But before you do, stop and think about how you’re going to approach the conversation. Below are five suggestions to help you get your child talking today.
#1 Respect your teenager’s feelings!
Being soft, warm, and accepting is the best way to get your teen to open-up about his or her feelings. Show him or her the space is totally safe to share anything, without fear of rejection or criticism from you.
Don’t overlook or ignore your youth.
#2 Keep your judgments in the closet (or outside the room).
You may feel anxious or concerned about what your teen has to say. But do your best to remain calm and supportive throughout. The more receptive you are, the more your child will communicate. This will also ease any potential tensions between you. Also resist the urge to jump-in and fill the quiet moments with chatter. This is your child’s moment, so allow him or her to do most of the talking and the feelings will flow.
#3 Pay attention.
Depression is a serious condition that can have grave consequences. Sufferers feel worthless and unhappy. And it’s not something they are doing on purpose. Listen for hints. Is the child struggling in school due to poor grades or sleeplessness?
Remain positive for your child.
#4 Remain hopeful.
Sometimes it can feel as though things will never get better, But with the right supports. Family, friends, and professionals things will eventually improve. Be patient, give the situation time to work out. And get help from your family doctor or therapist. With the right help and support, your youth has every chance of a full recovery.
Be patient. Your child has rights but not to be ignored
#5 Love.
More than anything, depressed teenagers need a parent’s love, support, and understanding. Provide it unconditionally. Even if your children should try to push you away, don’t stop loving or believing in them.
Awareness
Talking with (not at) your teen builds trust. Making him or her feel comfortable enough to approach you with anything is a good strategy. You’ll be able to spot issues before they become problems. And if you suspect your child might be suffering from depression. Do reach out for help as early as possible. Teen depression is a serious condition. This is your son or daughter we are talking about.
I suffered from teen depression when I was younger. My was due to a death in the family.
Glad that you overcome your struggle with depression. It helps to share your story.
I hope that I never do something like that if my son does fall into this. And I pray that I can help him in the ways that he means. I pray honestly that he never has to suffer from it. And I hope he doesn’t.
A child in a supportive family environment stands a better chance for recovering.
I am sure it’s hard to think your teen is going through something like that.
I am not sure that it is always a case of ignoring the signs but more a case of not knowing the signs. Depression whether in children or adults is often difficult to spot, not because people don’t care but because those that are suffering choose to suffer alone.
I have to agree with you Parents may not know the signs of teenage depression.
I fully agree with Bill Ayers quote.Teenage depression isn’t just bad moods or the melancholy. It’s a serious problem. So I think parents should talk about the problem and offer support to help them to get rid of depression. Thanks for considerations! Great post!
This is such an important topic and something everyone needs to be aware of! I’ve luckily never experienced true depression, but it’s so serious and important to talk about.
I agree you must not ignore depression because it is very serious we need to support them!
I can see where it would hard to see depression in teens–they have so many mood swings!
You have a lot of useful tips in this article. It is important to see the signs beforehand. Great post
I feel like so many teens suffer from some form of depression at one point in time. Personal story: I remember when I was in high school, there were 10+ classmates that died at different times within 3 years. And one month, there were 3 that died 2 weeks apart from one another. Talk about depressed teenagers. I swear we didn’t have “school” those years but rather just had counselors talking to us constantly. I was very lucky to have understanding parents who kept a close eye on me and helped me through these tough times.
Christine – The Choosy Mommy, Yes, you are lucky. Your Parents took the time to understand what is going on in your life as a teenager. If we can prevent suicide in teens by raising awareness then my mission is done. Thanks for your support.
These are some great points. Parents should definitely know the signs and be aware and proactive when it comes to teenage depression.
Knowing the signs is one thing I hope Parent will take action so that their child can get the message help.
Parents need to deal with every problems of their child in order for them to face and learn to fight their depression
I guess it’s not easy for all parents to accept that their kids is suffering from depression. But the best we can do as parents is show them that we’re not giving up and that we love and support them!
Showing our child love and affection is a necessity to raised health minded child. Neglect an abandonment two negative situations that causes hurt an anger among the youths.
This is such a wonderful article. This is a very sensitive but important issue that we need to be aware of as parents. Great information.
What a great topic. I think i need to be ready for that kind of situation
Thanks for sharing this! My son will be a teenager this year.
This is a mistake most parents do. It is very important that we closely monitor our teens and see if these signs are present, especially nowadays that a lot of teens are suffering form this.
I have faith that my children are protected and happy individuals. I believe i have shown then that They can trust me by Listening, Paying attention, loving, encouraging and also being tough when it matters. Its not easy to accept teenage depression. Its quite sad yet the causes are usually there for all to see.
Thanks for this article. It can truly help me understand more stuff about teenage depression.
Sometimes the parents honestly do not realise the extent of the problem – particularly when it comes to bullying outside of the home and then child might not share. Yes, a generally supportive environment would/could reduce the chances of the signs being missed.
I understand that teens like to keep secrets. Parents may not be aware of bullying or other concerns with their child. Still parent need to be more intuitive!
Thank you for sharing this post! It is hard to have to go through any type of depression. This has great tips to help someone try to overcome and have a great support system.
It is so easy to mistake this for moodiness. If parents are not sure it is best to get advice from the experts
Great tips. I hope I never have to deal with this, but it helps knowing now how to respond.
It can be absolutely terrifying because you don’t know what to do and you’re afraid to do the wrong thing!
Child depression is a serious thing. Its important to have it in mind when dealing with teenagers. It’s great to hear that you overcome this problem and I think is a great thing you share your story with others
You think you’ll recognize the signs, but so often you don’t, won’t or can’t. It’s hard to say until it happens, I know.
I don’t think I ever had depression when I was a teen but I know my cousin did. We lived in the same house and you would think I would have noticed the signs. I think a lot of time people are just not educated enough to know what signs to look for. I plan to always talk to my son and daughter. Not place any judgment and to love them forever.
I think it’s great to keep commutation open with your child.
My tween had some depression last school year when all his friends were in other classes and he didn’t know anyone in his class. Eventually he made friends, but there was a few weeks with a lot of crying. When he pulled out of it, I was in the middle of looking for help for him.
I am glad your son is ok. It so difficult in teen years friendships being like lots of pressure to fit it.
I suffered from teen depression. Neither of my parents noticed for a very long time until my mom saw the scars from cutting on my arm. I ended up in therapy and medicated but my mom decided for me to stop the therapy. Took a long time to over come on my own. I was a lucky one
Teenage depression is something that must be sorted out at the earliest as it could lead to some worst consequences later on. I think parents or elders around has the responsibility to take initiative to talk to them & guide them on issues that they might be going through.
This is very real and something that we as parents need to be aware of in not only our own kids but also the ones they hang out with and interact with at school.
The most most important things are love and paying attention. Paying attention can be hard sometimes but parents have too much things to focus on
Parenting is such a hard job. I can only imagine how much tougher it gets when they are teens. I chose not to have children, but l empathize with people that have to deal with this. Great post.
Teenage depression is real and as parent we really should always pay attention to our child to prevent depression or help them through it if they are suffering from one..
Mommy Peach, As Parents we cannot do enough to support our child in their struggle. Being too busy to pay attention or ignoring it will not make depression go away. It only make matters worse.
UGH! My son becomes a teen next year and I have all kinds of anxiety already. I’m worried about making sure he is okay. That he is communicating honestly and all of that. I would hate for something to be wrong and I not even know.
Mimi “MimiCuteLips” Green, Your son will be ok now that you know what to look for you will act quickly and not ignore the signs.
Depression in general is often overlooked. I think many of us believe it won’t happen to us or our loved ones so we dismiss behaviors vs. calling it what it is.
Jay, You are so correct..Many Parents continue to ignore signs depression will not happen to their child until its too late.
I’ve spent the last few months trying to find a counselor for my oldest daughter to talk to and every recommendation I got fail through. Each person wasn’t taking new clients. That def speaks volumes to what’s going on and hopefully I can find someone soon!
Alisha, Keep pounding the pavement call national hotline 1800 273 TALK they should be able to direct you to local resource in your area if things get worse. Primary doctor will be able to help too. Hope you find a counselor for your daughter.
These tips are right on. Teen depression is a very real thing and it’s important that parents are attentive to it.
LiveLifeWell,
Allison
Depression can be so different for each person and can be so hard to detect and treat but I think the tips you highlighted are really important.
Some people may want to be alone but feeling supported can definitely be the keys to opening up.
This is such an important topic! People fail to realize that children experience depression as well. As a parent, I am careful to choose my words wisely and watch out for their behaviors. Great reminder and post.
Valerie Robinson, The media and lots of people are discussing depression but not enough about teenage depression. But I think in time it will be…I am hopeful!
I’m not a parent yet, but it has to be the hardest, but most rewarding job ever. I think it’s important to keep the lines of communication open with your kids in order to recognize signs that something is off. Great tips in this post!
Great tips! But I don’t think in some cases it’s ignoring the signs and more like not knowing them.
I don’t have any kids of my own as yet but I appreciate the tips in this post. Being a teenager is difficult so parents definitely need to pay attention to any sign that something may be wrong.
Great tips in this article as always. Sometimes we don’t know the signs, so it’s good to remind parents what to look for. And sometimes we just hope that it goes away when we see the signs, but it’s important to be proactive.
Such an important reminder! Thank you for your words and reminding us how to respond to depression in our children. One of the hardest things ever is to see your child hurting.
Depression is serious matter. Its definitely important to watch for signs.
Indeed, ignoring signs of depression could lead to very serious problems. As parents we should give and show genuine care and support. These are great reminders!
This is so important and I wish it was taught in parenting classes.