Is Your Teenager Moody? Depressed? Defiant?: Sings Your Teenager Needs Mental Health Treatment

By Kellie McClain

It is nowhere beyond the norm to witness teenagers occasionally acting out, becoming anxious, feeling depressed, or exhibiting any otherwise hormonally influenced behavior. However, differentiating between developmentally-bound mental illnesses that are normal and expected based on hormonal changes and disorders that go beyond hormonal influence can be difficult. In these instances it is important to base your child's behaviors and actions on how you know them to act. There will be slight behavioral changes that hormones will inevitably bring forth, but if your child begins to stray away from themselves and seems to take on entirely different personality traits and mannerisms, then your child may be experiencing a serious mental disorder that can effect all aspects of their life and make an already tumultuous time in their lives even more difficult and beyond their control. The most effective way to treat illnesses to this extent would be to seek mental treatment from a professional who will be able to identify the necessary steps to take.

Some hormone-related actions and behaviors that could possibly escalate into a mental illness necessary for treatment include:

1. Mood swings: Especially during the beginning of their teenage years, children are likely to become more sensitive with their moods and susceptible to spontaneous and dramatized mood changes. If these changes are constant, extreme, or dysfunctional your child may need need psychological treatment.
2. Behavioral changes: With hormones driving teenagers to experience different needs and desires, it is normal to see slight changes in behavior that reflect these hormonal influences, but if the behaviors begin to negatively effect or alter the child's lifestyle it may be influenced by more than just their hormones.
3. Consequences in school and among friends: These changes are natural and expected and would only need treatment seeking if the consequences become detrimental to child's well being and future.
4. Physical symptoms: Hormones bring about physical changes as well that are accompanied with growth spurts. However, any significant change in the eating habits, hygiene, or energy level may signify a mental imbalance.
5. Self-medication: As all of these changes come about, the child may feel overwhelmed, lost, or confused. In these instances they may seek ways the deal with their mental issues using dysfunctional methods of self-medication such as drinking, drugs, or gangs. If your child engages in any of these activities in an attempt to escape an existing mental illness, treatment should be sought as soon as possible.

SOURCE: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/09/21/5-signs-your-teen-needs-mental-health-treatment/