Hello! There is a difference between teen angst & mental problems!

The teenage years. A time when hormones start surging, and your brain functions start to change as your mind and body develops. Some kids have no problem going through the years. Other kids become very depressed. Some are confused. Some are sexually frustrated.

But this does not mean that every single teenager in the world who is experiencing emotional distress is just going through a phase, or experiencing angst or raging hormones.

I am sick of people saying such things! It is simply not true.

Some kids have real problems. And they are being dismissed as teen angst or hormonal problems. Severe, prolonged depression complete with adhedonia and psychotic features is NOT NORMAL no matter how old you are. Hearing voices, having strong delusions of granduer or being convinced that you are Jesus is also not normal. Nor is obsessing over becoming stricken with an incurable disease such as AIDS or cancer, etc to the point where you don't think about anything else at any point of the day...when you stay home, and compulsively wash your hands with anti bacterial soap repeatedly until they become dry and chafed, just like the rest of your body...THAT IS NOT TEEN ANGST!

It is such an overly used statement. It is sickening. Some kids have real problems, and aren't getting helped because their parents or someone in their lives have dismissed the problems as such.

Yeah, being sad every once in awhile for no reason is normal for a teen. And so would be concerns about fitting in, trying to be cool, listening to bad popular music, being pissed off at the world for not understanding you, etc. That is normal. Know the difference and get to know a kid before you make such a judgement, unless you are purposely going about trying to ruin people's lives. Then I would suggest otherwise...I wont' get into what a terrible person you'd be if you were like that.

 

I agree. Let's add not being able to sleep as a warning sign. Insomnia is never a good thing, even as a teenager and can be a warning sign for bipolar disorder. From a young age, I had periods of time where I couldn't sleep. That's my earliest sign of things to come...

Peace and love

 

Yeah, damn emo kids - just because their music sucks doesn't mean they have to pretend they have issues. XD

 

Maybe willing listening to some of that shit is a sign of issues! Just Kidding everyone!

Peace and love

 

That's the problem though; as someone who is into psychology, seeing a psychologist, and preparing to go to school for many years to become a psychologist, I've learned a lot about the process of diagnosing someone with a certain disorder, and that's the problem with teenagers... It really *can't* be diagnosed, properly. There are warning signs, there are hints, but the truth is, no diagnosis made in adolesense is ever extremely reliable.

Because, even those kids who might have the potential to develop this or that, and are showing the potential warning signs, can also grow out of them once they begin becoming an adult; some of them however, do not grow out of it, and do spiral into those problems.

The important thing is, to not medicate or diagnose young minds, but get them in to talk to someone, a therapist, a school counselor, a psychologist, whatever.... before those hints and warnings turn into the actual problem. The important thing is to give adolesents a good support system, complete with those who can listen well, and give proper advice and suggestions such as counselors.

The biggest problem is NOT depression, but personality disorders, because personality disorders are difficult to diagnose even in adults, and they are the hardest of all mental conditions to work with; borderline for example, is one of the hardest things for psychologists to treat.

My psychologist has had experience with an array of serious mental conditions, and believes that some of these personality disorders are actually more difficult to deal with than schizophrenia.

I don't think that it's just kids being mistreated and diagnosed, but adults too, because the field of psychology is shaky, unpredictable at times, and it's very easy to mistake this or that, for something else.

 

What you said made sense, apples and oranges. I agree that therapy should be given to those with warning signs. Some disorders like bipolar and schitzophrenia develop during late adolescence and can be detected early and treated when need be.

Peace and love

 

That problems in teens as a big deal and at times hard to diagnose but I have things I do disagree on because I have gone to school and studied psychology for many years and have some experience. Most personality disorders can be seen as early as 3-4 years old. Depression is one of the hardest to be seen in teens because of the hormones and everything else that is going on in their lives. It gets ignored or not recognized as a problem until later in life or until tings get really bad. Unbelievably boys tend to have more problems than girls the problems that girls tend to suffer from more are eating disorders and depression. There is a lot of anxiety seen in girls also because depression and anxiety many times go hand in hand.

I totally agree that the problems that teens go through that are not just teenage angst. I just thought I would share my knowledge.

 

Thats a pretty broad statement. The devolvement of schizophrenia can be arrested almost completely if treated with drugs early enough. All the therapy in the world can't claim the same.

 

You are so right it is one of the few disorders that is only treatable through meds. Therapy is used for coping with side effects of the meds and to help keep patients on their meds because people with schizophrenia think that when they feel better they are cured and they don't need to take their meds any more.

 

a lot of teenagers problems are a result of a really fucked up childhood or home life. i cant speak for everyone, but from what ive seen those things tend to be a factor.

 

That is true in many cases because things aren't caught in childhood they continue through teens and adulthood.

 

Exactly. I have general anxiety disorder, depression, and agoraphobia. I fucking HATE IT when people say it's just "teen angst". D:

 

I totally agree. Alot of mental health problems also can be caused by one's environment as well,though. Different things cause different problems for different people. That's all there is to it.

 

I'm sorry. If all of that was caused by 'teen angst' or 'normal teen stuff', wouldn't anxiety and agoraphobia be ALOT more common? Like every other teenager?

 

Yes, but do you understand that all of those 'conditions' are really 'angst'?
Notice I didnt say 'Teen Angst' because that does make it sound like its some 'Jr version'.
In fact it realy is down to the way we handle stress, how we think and what we think.
But we should definately be taking 'angst' seriously because it is something that knocks us right out of life if we dont.

There are some things which do indeed seem to be actual 'mental problems' but even that is a funny term.
If you are in a state of intense and pointless worry then that is a 'mental problem'.
Thinking about bananas while you drive through a red light is also a 'Mental Problem'.

I think what this topic is getting at would be a distinction between things like PTSD, Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder and then something like Paranoid Schizophrenia.

Can I tell you what I repeatedly see as the biggest of problems out there - Teens getting diagnosed with 'chemical imbalances'.
Then,
Never acknowledging that EVEN IF you do have a chemical imbalance then you ALSO have Congnitive thinking, worry, anxiety and stress you should be attending to and working on.
If anything you would work on those MORE.

Example: I had a teen girl who was making terrible life choices, spending 14 hours a day on the internet in trivial thinking chats,
Practicing very pessimistic cognitive thinking patterns,
deliberately obsessing and feeding it purposefully too.
Ok,
After trying to encourage her on this, her mother steps in to 'explain' that none of this is the problem.
That the girl had a 'Chemical imbalance' and these things like responsible thinking, optimism, etc did not apply to her.
WTF?
No, she STILL has all those things going on like EVERYONE else does.
If anything she really should have been putting MORE effort on those issues than the next one.

I have a medical problem with my spine and it affects my physical balance.
I ALSO can make it worse by smoking, drinking, letting my muscles grow weaker and not exercising.
If anything I actually have to spend MORE time exercising my hip flexors and obliques but at the very least they still are there and still need to work.

 

True. I was speaking more for personality disorders like borderline; even bi-polar disorder and depression are difficult to diagnose in adolesence, and don't always involve medication.

But, you are right about schizophrenia, and thanks for pointing that out.

 

Speaking from experience, agoraphobia in adolesence, is a lot easier to overcome and treat than in adulthood; don't take that to offense, and I'm sure that every person is different, but if you get help for it now, it could make a big impact on your future.

GAD and depression, however, are two things that are most overlooked in teenagers; even when properly diagnosed, many times it goes untreated or MIStreated.

Medicating teenagers for depression is actually believed to make the problem worse; instead Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works best, along with a plan for diet and exercise... Going on medication as a teen for me, definitely did nothing but harm. As soon as I found a good therapist who worked with me through therapy, instead of medication, I made a lot more progress.

Anxiety in any age, is much better to treat through CBT than through medication as well. Medication for that particular issue, is more of a band-aid. Once you go off the medication, if you hadn't learned to cope with your anxiety,it's just going to hit you all over again.

I think teens also need to have some sort of knowledge/information on these issues so that they can seek help... without that knowledge it's difficult for someone so young to get anyone to listen to them. And well, parents/guardians should be aware as well.

 

ElProximo, were you trying to say that I'm covering up my problems with medication and not going through therapy?

I AM seeing a psychologist and doing cognitive behavioral therapy.

AutumnsMoonChild, I didn't say it was caused by teen angst.

Some people make NO sense on these boards.

 

I never said you said it was caused by teen angst. I wasn't making a personal attack nor was I questioning you. I was,however questioning those who call your disorders teen angst. Sorry for the confusion. I hope that clears things up.

 

Ah. Okay.