This week I want to give some guidance to parents whose children are dealing with mental health problems, how to approach them and help them cope. I think it is interesting to talk about it from my point of view, because the depression and eating disorders that I’ve had my family isn’t really aware of even now, since I never managed to tell them the truth. I was always too … [Read more...]
Your Scars Don’t Define You: One Parent’s Story of Supporting Their Teen with Self-Injury
As we battled these last weeks through a particularly rough patch, I found myself thinking that it was time for me to revisit therapy again. Sometimes the skills fade or get sloppy, sometimes I forget to take care of myself, sometimes I just crave an outsider’s voice on our challenges. My family often struggles during the transition time from school to summer and summer to … [Read more...]
The Two Things Parents Can Do For Teens Right Now
This post is for the parents reading this who have a child dealing with a mental health issue and don’t know what to do. For parents, as your child grows up, you want your child to be happy and live a carefree, fulfilling life. But what do you do when your child is facing an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue? My parents were faced with this … [Read more...]
Managing Medications: What’s a Parent To Do?
It’s been a few weeks, or months, or years, since your teenager began treatment with an SSRI, and she can’t--or won’t—describe what difference she senses, if any. She still feels debilitating anxiety at times, or has tough days when obsessive thoughts dog her. Yet you believe she’s better. Isn’t she? How does a parent evaluate from the outside looking in? This post … [Read more...]
Parenting a Teen with Mental Illness: A Parent’s Grief
What is the hardest thing about parenting children with mental illness? Some things are harder in the moment, while other things are harder to bear over time. For parents like myself whose struggling children do not respond to treatment and/or accommodations relatively quickly, ambiguous grief can be especially devastating. Precious childhoods are lost forever to endless … [Read more...]
Soiling The Nest – What a Parent Can Expect When Your Teen Goes Off to College
Look Out – Bumpy Road Ahead Congrats to your high school grad! He/she might be ready to head off for college – immediately – even though it’s only June. The feelings begin before graduation, of course. Not only will your teen be ready to go, but you may also be really ready for him/her to leave. It’s commonly referred to as “soiling the nest” and – yes – it's a real … [Read more...]
Parents: You’re Doing Just Fine
In this my first parent post for Anxiety in Teens, I introduce myself to you, fellow mothers and fathers caring for an adolescent struggling with mental illness, with this caveat: If there was a mistake to be made raising my teens with anxiety, I made it. If there was a wrong thing to have said to them, I said it. Probably many times. (As you no doubt are aware, it can be damn … [Read more...]
7 Ways To Support a Teen Coping with Mental Illness
As children grow up and out of their elementary school years, they begin the transitional state in life often associated with hormonal terrors and a variety of events that are rites of passage. That being said, a strained relationship with older family members - especially parental figures - is recognized as a common developmental experience. But what about instances where … [Read more...]
Parenting, Looking Back & What I Would Have Done Differently
People often ask me what I would have done differently as a parent if I could go back and start over. I can quickly generate a very long list, but of course there is no way to actually know what might or might not have made a difference in preventing or at least reducing their burden of depression and anxiety. As I now witness several of my nieces and nephews entering middle or … [Read more...]
Think:Kids: An Overview of Group Parent Therapy Program
In light of Oprah’s 60 Minutes piece on trauma-informed care that ran on PBS March 11, 2018 (which I highly recommend), I wanted to share my family’s somewhat untypical experience with trauma, mental illness and the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) model. Childhood trauma such as sexual abuse or sudden death of a parent can increase a person’s vulnerability to mental … [Read more...]
From The Desk Of An Anxious Young Adult: Understanding An Anxious Child
Since I learned to walk anxiety has followed me like a shadow. The pitter patter of baby feet could be too loud if I was not careful. I felt terrible when that shaky, wet, feeling of fear and pain twisted my family into promises I had yet to break, failures I had yet to make. I lived in fear of disappointing everyone. With support, understanding, and honesty my family has … [Read more...]
The Hardest Part About Parenting a Teen with Anxiety
I’m not writing to evoke your sympathy. I know that virtually all the contributors in this amazing community are teens. So what do I hope to get from this post? I would love for some parents to step up and start writing about the experiences with the anxiety in their teen’s life. Let’s talk about how to help her/him. Let’s ask the questions where the answers are not so obvious. … [Read more...]
Four Ways to Effectively Help a Child Struggling with Mental Health Issues
If you're a parent with a teen with anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue, you're probably overwhelmed. You might be frustrated, sad and helpless. These are all completely normal and reasonable feelings as you try your best to help your child manage their mental health. But... I have a good news: these conditions are treatable and you can play a role in making a … [Read more...]
How To Reduce Your Teen’s Anxiety
High school can be a very stressful time for you and your teenager. During my teenage years, I was disrespectful to my parents, distant, and blamed them for things that were going on in my life that they had no control over. Teenage hormones, college applications, relationships and simply stress from high school seem to all make for a high level of stress. My parents always did … [Read more...]
AiT Exclusive Interview: Separation Anxiety vs Generalized Anxiety vs Social Phobias, Oh My! With Anxiety Expert Dr. Anne Marie Albano
We are pleased to have author and Director of the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Dr. Anne Marie Albano, Ph.D., share some great insights with us on the differences between separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, and social phobia! Read on for great insights for how parents can help and what to expect in therapy. She is the author of “You and … [Read more...]