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Caring for Your Hurting Teen / Fostering Wellness and Growth / Uncategorized — Comments Off on The Secret to Reconnecting with Your Distant Teen
12
Jan 25

The Secret to Reconnecting with Your Distant Teen

Teenager“Music expresses a teen’s emotions and identity, yet often parents are critical of their teen’s taste in music and it feels like a personal rejection to them.”

As teens mature, they need to separate from their parents and allow their peer group to take precedence. But if you and your teen don’t seem to share anything these days, there is a simple method to bring you closer to your teen and improve trust. Simply put, make yourself useful.

First, identify what your teen loves. You may be able to list several things; for example, video games, music, and wrestling. Second, figure out a way to become involved on a regular basis without annoying your teen. Music is often an easy choice. Music expresses a teen’s emotions and identity, yet often parents are critical of their teen’s taste in music and it feels like a personal rejection to them. You can overcome this lack of understanding by listening to your teen’s music whenever you are in the car together and offering to take them and a friend to some concerts. The “concert mom” or “concert dad” is always looked upon by teens with a friendly eye. In fact, it is pretty much universally agreed that they will one day have a special place in heaven.

If your teen enjoys a sport, it helps to not only attend games but also to join the parent booster club, providing rides and ordering team sweatshirts. The underlying message to all of this is that you care about the things that matter to your teen. Note the difference between that and knowing what’s best for a teen. Teens don’t care what you think is best for them. If you can make yourself a supplier of his social world, you will be silently appreciated.

One note of caution. If your teen’s passion is something that is easiest to fulfill by spending money, hold back. For example, if your teen wants to go on a guided trip through Europe that costs $5,000, help him organize a garage sale or other event to raise funds. Don’t write the check.

Uncategorized — Comments Off on A Day in the Life of Your Teen’s Psychotropic Medicine
06
Jan 25

A Day in the Life of Your Teen’s Psychotropic Medicine

Teenager“The half life of a medicine is the length of time it takes for a drug’s concentration to be reduced by one half.”

Every medicine has a personality. Let’s say your son has been prescribed a new medicine and it is not going very well. Every evening he complains of nausea and dizziness. It hasn’t worked as well as you’d hoped either, and it’s beginning to look like this medicine trial is over. Before you give up, make sure you are doing your best to meet the needs of your teen’s medicine.

Every pill has a life. If it requires food, hopefully a nice meal will be waiting for it when it arrives. If all goes well, it becomes absorbed, activated, and does its job. Eventually, it fades away, only to be replaced by a fresh pill with a new life. Some medicines have very short life spans. The anti-anxiety medicine Xanax acts quickly but dies out after only a couple of hours, whereas Klonopin, a medicine in the same class of drugs, activates slowly but remains in the system for  up to a couple of days. The psychiatrist considers these factors when determining the type of coverage the patient needs.

Let’s return to your son’s new medicine and take a closer look at its characteristics. You see that it is taken twice daily, telling you that it has a relatively short life. If your son takes his first dose at 6 a.m., before school, and he isn’t taking his second dose until around 9 or 10 p.m., there will be a gap of several hours in his medicine. The nausea and dizziness he experiences may be withdrawal symptoms. Have him space his doses twelve hours apart and the discomfort may disappear.

If a drug is taken once a day, have your teen take it at the same time each day. Try to make it a convenient time, preferably when the teen is at home, and carry a small supply in your handbag or car in case you cannot get home in time. If the medicine requires food, carry a snack along or go to the nearest drive-through restaurant if you’re not at home.

This vigilance is especially important in the first month or two. The longer your teen takes a medicine, the less bumpy his symptoms will be, until they eventually disappear. Respect your medicine’s modest needs, and it will reward you with long-term stability.

 

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