Find tips for talking to teens about mental health

For most people, adolescence is a stage of life in which young people immerse themselves more in self-knowledge, live wonderful experiences to build their personality and balance responsibilities and pleasure. Imagine, then, being a teenager in lockdown? Countless opportunities for socialization are lost, and therefore, some of them may suffer from serious mental health issues. For this reason, we break down some tips for dealing with this topic with teens:

Adolescent mental health: an essential conversation

Break the silence when it comes teens It can literally save lives. Many teens believe they do not have a strong support network, especially in their families, and experience anxiety that can lead to symptoms of depression, anxiety, or panic attacks.

Especially in a context of social isolation, where many young people are growing up and cut off from experiences of socialization that are common to all generations, being supportive is a way to save them from that feeling of loneliness. So, check out some tips:

Suspension of judgments

Teens can’t always open up at first. Therefore, your outbursts of emotions may be superficial. This can be a form of test, to gauge whether or not you will judge them. Listen to him without judging him, after all, what is a minor problem to you may be of the utmost importance to him – and your point of view can help him, as long as you help him without minimizing his problems.

Avoid statements like, “That’s no big deal” or “You don’t know what it means to have real problems.”

Get comfortable with silence

There will not always be something to say. Sometimes a teen just wants a friendly, reliable shoulder to cry on and doesn’t have any dialogue about what happened. He’ll feel like you’re the right person if you follow the first tip and don’t judge him. So, don’t force a conversation about it, but make yourself available to refer a therapist or talk about it.

Show interest in treatment

Casually, you can show him some treatment options. There are several approaches to psychology: be it psychoanalysis, Jungian, tcc… establishing a dialogue about it that might make him more interested. If he doesn’t seem to like the idea, don’t force it. Gradually, this topic can become more interesting, especially if you don’t force it into anything.