Reply to I work on a psych ward...ask me anything

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When you worked with kids, were their parents odd/mentally ill in some way, had poor parenting skills? Or do you think it was something biochemical in the kids' brains? [/quote]

All of the above. Some kids came from absolutely fantastic families. Others came from families that looked great on the surface but once you went deeper there were issues that often hadn't been dealt with. Others came from families who meant really well and tried really hard but weren't so great at parenting. Some parents had mental illnesses of their own or were dealing with trauma (trauma is a huge piece of mental illness). Some families with no parenting skills at all. Others who have rejected, abandoned or abused their children.

For some kids it is definitely primarily biochemical, for others it is primarily social but overtime that excess stress/trauma at an ealry age changes their brain too.

Younger kids tend to have a lot of family issues intertwined with their mental health and we treat them as a family. teens it is about 50/50. Suicide attempts in teens is a bout 50% of the adolescent admissions. A mix of super high achievers who had too much external/internal pressure, kids who are in an existential crisis - no meaning or purpose, kids who can't handle the stress/trauma/hand they have been dealt, kids with persistent depression or other mental illness, kids whose first loves dumped them and they spiraled downward.

[b]We also see a lot of teens from families who have focused too much on making their kids happy/self-esteem, and in doing so kept their kids from feeling and learning to cope healthily with sadness, disappointment, hurt feelings, being in trouble and taking responsibility etc.. When those kids grow into the teenage years, they really struggle to cope with life and teen pressures.  [/b]
[/quote]

Could you elaborate on this? Give an example. I'm a parent of teenagers and worried I've done this. But I'm not sure if I have or if I just think I have. My kids have jobs (paid) and chores around the house, and they surely have ups and downs, and we always talk about them. But I"m not sure they can face reality. They've not been in love yet, so I have no idea how they will face getting dumped (not fun at any age, surely!). These must be extreme cases you are talking about, no? Not just upper middle class kids with iPhones, nice houses, nice vacations and nice stuff? That describes most teenagers I know. They can't all be at risk. [/quote]

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