What are the signs of a troubled teen?

1. Suffers from depression or anxiety2. Talks about or has suicidal thoughts3. Engages in inappropriate sexual activity4. Participates in school bullying, or is bullied at school5. Using illicit substances or recreational drugs6. Poor family relationships, and difficulty making friends

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The difficulty in dealing with troubled teens is to mistake their behaviors for normal ado-lescent behaviors. Upon further studies, many troubled teens suffer from Op-positional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder (DSMV-IV), which manifests itself strongly in the family home.

Ideally, if your teenager con-sistently displays signs of be-ing troubled, it is best to visit your doctor, child psychiatrist or counselor in order to get proper diagnosis of your teen’s mental and psychological con-dition. However, for the purpose of trying to deal with the problem on your own, this free report provides recent statistics and effective solutions for each symptom of a troubled teen listed above.

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What is a troubled teen?

A guide to helping your troubled teen

Troubled teens, in the most general sense,

are those who exhibit a rebellious attitude

toward parental and/or authority figures, dis-

play antisocial tenden-cies or apathy toward

society as a whole, and look for acceptance at

incorrect places ...

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND DO IF YOUR TROUBLED TEEN IS…

The statistics of teenage depression is just as staggering when com-pared to other more urgent psy-chological and behavioral disorders experienced by teenagers – 1 out of 8 adolescents endure depression, according to Family First Aid. How-ever, what makes the situation even worse is that only 30% of these depressed children are receiving treatment.

Teens that are depressed will most likely withdraw from people they used to interact with and stop do-ing activities that they used to find interesting. If your teen spent a lot of time on a hobby or a sport be-fore, one classic sign of depression is suddenly losing interest in those activities. Encouraging your teen to take up the hobby or sport again or explore a new one may help. If possible, you could spend some quality time together with your teen and enjoy new activities together. Not only will it help take your teen out of his/her shell of depression, it would also be instrumental in fostering a more open kind of relationship and encourage communication.

Teens will also experience certain urges whenever they are feeling depressed such as drug depend-ency, “cutting” and similar symp-toms. Therefore, monitor your teen at all times and make sure that he or she is not experimenting with any of these harmful activities that could worsen the situation. Keep an eye out for warning signs such as changes in appearance, bloodshot eyes or erratic behavior.

A person’s teenage years is the pe-riod in which the first sexual experi-ences typically occur. According to the book Teenagers in the United States: sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, almost half (46%) of teenagers in the United States from ages 15 to 19 have had sex at least once. Also, at the age of 15, 13% of teenagers in the United States have already had sex. How-ever, once they turn 19, the number of unmarried US teen who have had sex skyrockets to 70%.

Television and the Internet have become the breeding grounds for pornography and lewd program-ming that contains strong sexual content. By limiting their access to these certain media (for instance, blocking television channels that may have age inappropriate con-tent or positioning a computer with Internet access in a more public location in the home to discourage

Is your teen engaging in frequent sexual activity ?

Teen suicide is triggered by a host of different factors includ-

ing depression. Teen suicide has become the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers and ado-lescents, according to Family First Aid. In particular, over 1,611 among 20,271,312 teenagers from the age of 15 to 19 committed suicide in 2001. Also, almost 75% of those who committed suicide were white males.

As a parent, you must show to your teen that you are there

for him or her every step of the way. Seeking professional help and sup-port is perhaps the most important way to deal with a suicidal teen.

The difficulty in dealing with trou-

bled teens is to mis-take their behaviors

for ‘normal”

Suffering from depression &

anxiety...

Keep in mind that many times, the signs of being suicidal can be hard to recognize. A lot of times, these signs may be subtle and easy to miss, and the reality that a teen may be suicidal can come as a tragically unpleas-ant surprise to a parent. If your teen shows any of the classic signs of depression, it would be best to seek counseling in order to prevent it from escalating to suicidal tenden-cies.

If your teen has attempted to com-mit suicide before, seeking regular

counseling will help you monitor his/her emotional stability, and a behavioral expert will be able to tell you whether your child will be safer in an institution like a thera-peutic boarding school rather than at home. The battle against suicidal thoughts can be a long and hard struggle. Seeking professional help for as long as it takes to get your child out of danger is very impor-tant.

Could your teen be suicidal?

visiting inappropriate sites. If the child has known tendencies to seek out pornographic websites, locking the computer to prevent use may be the best solution), you will be able to help control their exposure to material that could trigger or worsen their sexual impulses. In addition, the prevalence of online predators preying on young chil-dren and teens is also becoming increasingly concerning. Getting proactively involved in monitor-ing your child’s use of the Internet is becoming even more important these days.

What you can do as a parent

Outside of seeking professional advice from a therapist or a coun-selor, there are a few things which you can try immediately to

improve your relationship with your teenager and help them with any problems they may be having (next page..)

hidden the drugs such as DVD cases, between books on the shelf, and such. Although this may be a breach of privacy to your teenager, it nonetheless ensures the safety of your teen from further spiraling down to addiction.

When trying to educate your teen about the dangers of drug abuse, they may not be as receptive as they should be about the informa-tion. If this is the case, bring your teen to an authority figure that will provide more vital informa-tion about drug abuse so that your teenager will listen and follow the advice.

If your teen is already addicted, it’s important to get the right kind of help from professionals. Addiction to substances can be a lifelong struggle, and without intervention, it could result to extremely negative physical, psychological and emo-tional consequences, even death.

Understand your teen by learning their “language”Good old fashioned family dialogues can be very helpful when trying to understand your teen’s issues and attempting to reach out to them. However, it is safe to expect that you would have to decipher his words and actions as if they were a secret code. Teenagers have different sets of ideals and beliefs, and, as they are, you simply have to learn how their mind works in order to figure out where they’re coming from.They may rebuff you at first despite your valiant attempts, and it will hurt when they do. But patiently keep the avenues of communication open and give them many opportunities to approach you. It’s a good idea to keep on having family dinners together and have a lot of family time where they can enjoy your company and get used to talking to you in a casual, stress-free setting.By staying calm and composed the whole time, you immediately show you teen how important under-standing him/her really is.

Bullying is type of abuse that is manifested into physical,

emotional, and verbal forms. Bul-lied victims are usually attacked directly (hitting, intimidation, threats, belongings being dam-aged) or indirectly (encouragement others to reject a particular person, gossip). This social epidemic has affected over 5.7 million students in the United States – almost 30% of the teenage population – who have become bullies or victims of teen bullying, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would at-test.

It’s important to understand that bullies are often being bullied as

well. They may be enduring bad treatment from an older sibling, a parent, other adults, or other older children. More often than not, bul-lies lash out on weaker or younger

children out of frustration and out of the need to feel some degree of control in their lives. If you think that there are some behaviors that you need to change at home like how you communicate with your chil-dren or how siblings interact with each other, it’s possible that you may help your teen stop bullying others. Also, any behavior exhibited by your teen, especially at home, that points to bullying must be cor-rected and dealt with accordingly.

On the other hand, if your teen is the one being bullied, it’s

natural for parents to want to take aggressive action towards whoever is bullying their child. However, there’s a proper way to handle this kind of situation. Since school au-thorities are the responsible adults responsible for keeping your child safe at school, it’s important to bring the incident/s of bullying to their attention. If you are dissatisfied with the way that school authorities are handling the situation or if you don’t notice any significant change in your child, don’t think twice about

Is your teen a bully or involved in bullyin g

at school?

taking your child out of school and seeking better alternatives.

Lastly, let your teen know that being bullied is not his or her

fault and provide reassurance that you will do everything to protect your teen from further bullying.

Is your teen experimenting

with drugs?Although the rate of drug use has plummeted since its prominence in the early ‘90s, the Greater Dallas Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse reports that prescription drug use among teenagers have increased since then. In addition, studies conducted by the University of Michigan has yielded results that OxyContin, which may have played a role in 464 deaths across the U.S. in 2000 to 2001, is one of the most purchased prescription drugs by teens.

Once your teenager shows signs of substance abuse (change in behav-ior and deterioration of physical appearance, among others), you must take the situation in your own hands and get rid of substances and drugs that can be consumed and abused by your teen. Search your house for any possible loca-tions that your teen may have

What to do when you’ve exhausted all options Therapuetic Boarding Schools

This type of schooling is the exact op-posite of teen boot camps and military schools that are known for using physi-cal punishment as corrective measures for their misdemeanors. Essentially, a therapeutic boarding school is moder-ated by professional therapists and clinicians with intentions of chang-ing the personal behavior of your teenager. Most effective programs of such schools employ the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy which aims to solve the troubles experienced by teenagers through a systematic and goal-orient-ed approach.

Teenagers in a therapeutic board-ing school can expect to participate in therapy sessions with different clinicians from time to time with the purpose of assessing the direction and their progress in the program. Also, a therapeutic boarding school will request family participation in some parts of the program. They will be requested to join therapy sessions in order to accommodate any conflicts that continue to exist within the family.

Turning Winds Academic Institute http://www.turningwinds.com Is an industry leading therapeutic school which specializes in helping “at risk youth” and a range of adolescents with problems.

Such schools aren’t cheap, but they provide an excellent alternative for struggling teens. They not only help teens deal with the current issues that they are having but can help turn their life around and enable them to make better choices and become better-adjusted, happier adults. For more information regarding how a thera-peutic boarding school can help your son or daughter please call 1-800-845-1380, or +208-267-1500 for outside of the United States, to speak with a consultant.