For most people, adolescence is the stage of life where young people are most immersed in self-knowledge, live remarkable experiences for the construction of their personality and balance between responsibilities and fun. Imagine, then, being a teenager in a lockdown period? Countless opportunities for socialization were lost and, therefore, some of them may suffer serious problems related to mental health. Because of this, we separate some tips to approach this subject with teenagers:
Read more: Mental health: What parental habits make teenagers mentally ill?
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Adolescent mental health: a necessary conversation
Breaking the silence when it comes to teenagers it can literally save lives. Many teenagers believe that they do not have a solid support network, especially in their families, and suffer from anxiety that can lead to depressive symptoms, anxiety or panic attacks.
Especially in a context of social isolation, in which many young people are growing up and being cut off from socialization experiences common to all generations, being a support is a way of rescuing them from that sense of loneliness. So, check out some tips:
Suspend the judgments
Teenagers are not always able to open up at first. Therefore, it may be that your outbursts are superficial. This can be a form of testing, to gauge whether or not you are going to judge them. Listen to him without judgment, after all, what is a simple problem for you may be of extreme importance to him - and your perspective can help him, as long as you help without diminishing his problems.
Avoid phrases like ' ' that's not a big deal ' ' or ' ' you don't know what it's like to have real problems ' '.
Get comfortable with the silence
There won't always be something to say. Sometimes, the teenager just wants a friendly and reliable shoulder to cry on and not establish any dialogue about what happened. He will feel that you are the right person for this if you follow the first tip and don't judge him. Therefore, do not force any conversation on the subject, but make yourself available to indicate a therapist or talk about it.
Show interest in therapy
Casually, you can show him some therapy options. There are several approaches in psychology: be it Psychoanalysis, Jungian, TCC… Establishing a dialogue about this can make him more interested. If he doesn't seem to like the idea, don't force it. Gradually, this subject can be more interesting, especially if you don't force it into anything.
