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Raising teenagers can be both rewarding and challenging, especially as they enter the complexities of  adolescence. During this time, teens face significant emotional and psychological shifts, which can sometimes make it difficult for parents to recognize when their child is struggling.

A teen can develop similar mental health conditions as an adult, yet their symptoms may be different. Mental illness in adolescents can be difficult for parents to notice. Therefore, many teens who can benefit from teen mental health treatment often don’t receive the help they need.

Parenting is a challenging job and parenting teens is quite tricky. Teenagers face many changes as they approach adulthood and the struggles that come with it. Peer pressure, bullying, body shaming, and negative self-perception all fall under the list of troubled teen issues. As a parent, you want to ensure your teen is mentally, emotionally, and physically active.

What are the signs of mental illness in teens? What can parents do to help?   We’ll seek to answer these questions.

What is Mental Illness?

Mental health is defined as the overall mental wellness of a individual and how they think, regulate their feelings and behavior. Mental illness or a mental health condition can be defined as patterns or changes in thinking, feeling, or behaving that result in distress in a person’s ability to function.

In teens, mental health disorders are delays or disruptions in developing age-related thinking, behavior, social skills, or managing emotions. These issues are distressing to teens and can disturb their ability to function at school, home, or other social conditions.

Common Mental Health Disorders in Teens:

Mental health issues in teens or developmental disorders that mental health professionals address can include the following;

• Anxiety issues

Anxiety disorder in a teen involves feelings of endless fears and worries that disturb their ability to participate in school activities. Parents will notice anxiety when they see social stress, generalized anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

• Attention- deficit or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

When comparing most teens of the same age, teens with ADHD have difficulty paying attention, impulsive behavior and hyperactivity.  They experience these issues at the same time in varying degrees.

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Autism spectrum disorder is a sensory condition that appears in early childhood, generally before age three. The severity of ASD’s situation can vary.  A child with this disorder has difficulty interacting and communicating with others.

• Depression and other mood disorders

Depression is a continued feeling of sadness and loss of interest that upsets an adolescent’s ability to perform and interact with others. Bipolar disorder additionally brings about outrageous emotional episodes, as well as rapid mood swings that can range from from melancholy to overly enthusiastic. The latter might be risky or even dangerous.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

PTSD is extended emotional stress, nervousness, anxiety, upsetting memories, bad dreams, and problematic behaviors in response to traumatic events. These events may include past or present abuse, violence, and injury.

Read how art therapy has been helping kids transition from negative experiences to positive emotions related to various psychological, developmental and social issues.

Reason Teen Can Develop Mental Health Problems:

Though there can be various reasons and circumstances contributing to a teen’s mental health condition, some of the primary causes can be the following;

• Hormones

Changes in hormones and brain development can put your teen at risk of mental health problems. Research has shown that when all the parts of the neural system don’t develop at the correct ratio, a teen may experience changes in thinking, mood, and behavior.

• Environmental issues

Environmental issues can also be a factor that can contribute to a teen’s state of mental health. Any traumatic incidents like the history of any abuse can also increase a teen’s risk.

• Stress

Stress can be a common factor in bringing on mental illness in teenagers. If your teen is being threatened at school or is a victim of cyberbullying or he or she is undergoing a lot of pressure, they may be more prone to mental health issues.

Warning Signs to Look for Teenage Mental Illness:

Mental illness symptoms can be different in teens, but some common warning signs include these behaviors;

• Changes in sleeping habits

Your teenager may say they are having trouble sleeping, or they begin taking multiple or daily short naps at school. In the event that your child feels the need to remain in bed the entire day or wants to stay up throughout the night, this can be a warning sign of mental illness advancing in the teens life.

• Lost interest in regular activities

In the event that your teens wants to withdraw from their favorite activity or indicates they no longer want to hang out with family or friends, then they might be going through a mental issue.

• A changes in school performance

Mental health conditions frequently lead to dramatic changes in motivation to start or finish school work.  A loss of interest in school overall or a sudden decrease in school grades could very well be an indication of mental issues.

• Changes in appetite or weight

Skipping out on meals, hoarding food, and quick weight changes could be a sign of an eating disorder.

• Extreme agitation

Unusual resentment, unexpected emotional responses such as crying, and high degrees of irritability can be a sign of mental illness.

• Increased isolation

A strong desire to stay distant from others or being very secretive might be an indication of a problem.

How to Help Teen to Deal with Mental Illness?

 Parents can play a crucial part in supporting their teen’s mental treatment. Here are few vital points that can help a parent to support their teen’s mental health treatment;

• Take time to research and learn about your teen’s mental illness.
• Seek family counseling that includes all individuals as partners in the treatment plan.
• If you do not have a family pet, consider the benefits of animal therapy and which pet may be the most beneficial.
• Ask your teenager’s mental health professional for counsel on responding to your teen and dealing with their conduct.
• Take part in parent training programs, particularly those created for parents of teenagers with mental issues.
• Engage in activities to unwind and have fun with your teen.
• Study stress management techniques to assist you in responding to situations calmly.
• Express appreciation for your teens strengths and abilities.

Explore professional support options for dealing with mental health challenges. A modern teen mental health treatment center such as Visions Treatment Centers can provide tailored programmes that cater specifically to adolescents. These centres focus on developing coping strategies and therapeutic techniques that empower teens to navigate their mental health journey effectively.

Mental illness is like any other illness.  It takes professional attention to help the person who is mentally ill to improve and manage their health moving forward. Beware of the signs and be ready to learn and provide appropriate solutions.  Get to know your kids and learn how to make them mentally strong for the challenges they will face as they grow.

Got the Winter Blues? Maybe It’s SAD

Have you been feeling down lately? Moody? You can’t seem to concentrate? Want to lay around all the time? You could be SAD. We’re not talking about having the blues; SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder.  And it’s ok.  You are not abnormal and you are certainly not alone.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a medically-recognized condition.  The symptoms are similar to being depressed. People with SAD can’t concentrate, have less energy, are moody and can have problems sleeping.

Researchers think that SAD is caused by three main factors:

• Biological clocks. Your body is used to seeing the sun for a certain time and being in the dark for a certain time. Winter means shorter day, which confuses your internal clock.

• Serotonin levels. Serotonin is a mood booster that your body makes naturally. Sunlight helps your body make serotonin, so when cold weather keeps you inside and out of the sun, you could have very low serotonin levels. This could make you feel sad or tired and even more hungry.

• Melatonin levels. Your body makes melatonin naturally, but when days get short, your body makes less. This makes it harder to sleep.

SAD is also believed to effect younger people more than older people. That’s why you need to be aware of SAD. When you see a friend is posting dark or depressing messages, maybe he or she is suffering from SAD.

If you are feeling low and find that your mood is effecting your schoolwork or relationships, you should mention this to your parents. You could be suffering from SAD and need to see a medical doctor for help.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Most of the time, SAD is just a natural response to a long stretch of cold and dark days. If it’s an issue with mental illness, seek out resources and help from a professional about your specific issues.  In either case, there are steps you can take to help relieve symptoms.

The first and easiest thing you can do is get more sunlight. Bundle up and walk to school if you can. Or grab some friends for an outdoor game.

Being active is another way to treat SAD. Exercise increases serotonin levels, helping make up for the serotonin you lose during winter. This could be playing basketball in school or following an exercise video online. By getting your exercise outside when the sun is shining, you get twice the benefit.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Talk is cheap”.  But in the case of the winter blues, talk is with more than gold!  The phrase “talk is cheap” is about when people talk about doing something good, but never do it.  What they say doesn’t have real value because it produces no action.  But when you’re feel down, it’s so important to express your feelings.  Talk to your friends and family about it.  Just the act of talking will most certainly make you feel a bit better.  And talking can also bring solutions of fun things to do to help you snap out of the doldrums.

Think about SAD when you check your social media. When you see a friend making posts that sound depressed or moody, pick up your phone and invite him or her out to do something fun.

You aren’t a doctor, but you can still help fight Seasonal Affective Disorder.

As parents, we do get alarmed when our children fail to respond to their names. That’s because this could be a sign of autism and other developmental delays we don’t want our little ones going through. Needless to say, children also develop at their own pace, and what you might take as a sign of autism could simply be your youngster operating on their own timeline.

That said, remaining in the dark and hoping for the best is hardly a space that parents want to occupy when it comes to their children. And while we can never be one-hundred percent sure of the answer until we see understanding reflected in our child’s eyes, it does help when we know the signs are mostly pointing toward a positive outcome.

So, do babies recognize their names all the time? No, they don’t. But this shouldn’t be an immediate cause for concern unless your little one is way past this milestone. Besides, you can help speed things up on your end by employing the speech-enhancing tips we’ll be sharing today.

Getting Your Children To Respond To Their Name More Often

For some children, it takes a while to have full recognition of their name. Sometimes, they’ll respond to it right away; other times, they’ll ignore it completely. If an intellectual disability is not the reason behind this, you can get your child to acknowledge their name with the help of the following:

Response in Isolation

There’s no question that children get distracted easily. They might know you’re calling their name yet fail to respond because their attention is on something or someone else. That is why you should first teach name recognition in isolation.

Teach your child to recognize his or her name when there are little to no distractions. Your bedroom or the kitchen could be a good area to start since it doesn’t have any toys lying around or any fun things taking place.

Once in this isolated environment, sit your child down and start the name-recognition process. To do things correctly, you must prepare something your child likes as a reward. It could be their favorite food, toy, or gesture from you.

Wait for a specific time when they’re looking away before you call out their name. If they look your way, hand over a reward. If they don’t respond, call their name out again louder, accompanied by some sort of commotion, like clapping, waving, or tapping on the table.

Whenever you present a reward, make sure your little one knows what it’s for. Do this repeatedly, using just their first name and only use waving and clapping when they fail to respond the first time.

Response in a Structured Setting

Now, it’s time to dial up the distraction levels and see how your child fares. After all, distractions are a reality your youngster eventually has to deal with. Your child should learn to recognize their name with distractions present.

To do this, take your child to a room where an appliance or two is running. It could be the television or radio or some toys lying on the floor. Repeat what you did in the previous method and call out your child’s name to see if they respond. If they do, reward them. If not, say their name again louder, accompanied by some tapping and clapping.

Of course, the presence of distractions means it might be a bit harder for your little one to focus on what you’re actually saying. Thus, give them a little more time to respond. You just have to keep calling out their name until they eventually look your way. Keep on practicing this method until you’re satisfied with your child’s level of response.

Response in an Unstructured Setting

You could be feeling a little bit better about the situation once your child nails the second method. However, things aren’t quite done just yet.

The third lesson involves getting your child to react to their name with any or all distractions present. So, in this case, you might want to bring them to a room that has all their favorite toys, people, and things to do.

Unleash them into the room before you call their name out. Make sure to stand close to them when you do and wait a moment for a response. If they recognize their name, proceed to hand over the reward and let them know what it’s for.

Though keep in mind that your child might not look your way all the time. What’s important is that he or she responds enough times for you to know that he or she absolutely recognizes the name you gave them.

Children and Their Unique Timelines

While a child has milestones you expect them to reach at a certain age, delays can often happen. Your child might not talk, respond, or act like their peers, and that could be perfectly okay and normal. Your child might simply be biding their time and will catch up eventually.

Though we also understand how this might keep you from getting some sleep. And in that event, you’d do well to get in touch with a speech language pathologist to help address the situation you suspect your child is in.

Expecting a baby? Explore tips on how to prepare before your baby arrives.

G Suite is now Google Workspace for Education.  Used by students and teachers for school, the platform continues to provide tools that qualifying institutions can use for free.  Google for Education allows educators and students to interact simply.  Whether school is in session or consisting of online classes, these Workspace tools include essential web based applications.

Google Workspace allows teachers to plan and implement standard based lessons, manage grades and meet the needs of diverse learners.  A more simple way to explain how these tools and resources help educators is to say that it’s a collection of apps, just like you have on your phone. These apps are designed for use in work and educational purposes.

Some of these apps already exist for any organization needing to engage collectively online, but many have been specifically created for teachers and their classrooms. These Google tools will help you to engage students to interact with the content of any lesson presented, including back and forth communication other than just email or live online session.

Why Use Google Workspace for Education?

1. Free sign up then determine free eligibility for your institution.
2. Easy Collaboration between students and fellow teachers.
3. Use Google Workspace on any device with one log in.

Never before have these tools been more essential with many students having to attend their classes online. These resources bring all students together, whether at home or in school, to help increase everyday work flow for critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity with your students. All of this happens while supporting the standards in learning objectives that you have.

Google for Education Apps

You may recognize many of these Google platforms because as mentioned, many of them are not only used for education. Google for Education simply groups them all in one place through your Google account, in addition to adding specific apps essential for the online classroom.

Core Services of Google Workspace for Education

Whether conducting classes in school, online or a little of both, here are the Google apps that will make it easier for your students to connect through their each individual Google accounts, just as teachers and administrators are doing.

Classroom

This is one of the most commonly used workpace apps but many Google Classroom’s features may not be fully utilized. Even though the classroom is online, it is very secure as only those who are invited can join through a class code emailed to each individual student. Once a classroom is created teachers can can add various classes and sections as needed.

Some key features of Google Classroom are:

• Track classwork and submit assignments.
• Check originality, feedback, and grades. Share resources and interact in the class stream or by email.
• Parents and Guardians can get a regular email summary of student’s work.
• Review announcements and activities.

Drive

Think of Google Drive as a flash drive that is stored on a different computer that you can access from anywhere and from any of your devices. This is the same for students. It’s the easy way to share lesson files or educational videos and everyone in your class will have the latest copies. Add and remove files at will or update documents without having to forward revised materials your students. Drive brings all of the Workspace tools together for easy access on the cloud by everyone in your class.  Inside Google Drive you can create docs, work sheets, slides and forms for various purposes.

Docs

Any document your would normally create, print off and hand our to your students can be created in Google Docs. These docs will be available instantly for your entire class to see. You can restrict these documents from being edited by students, or their may be circumstances when you want to allow editing, if not students then with other teachers or administrators you share documents with.

Sheets

Make your lessons come to life with colorful charts and graphs. Google Sheets offers built-in formulas, pivot tables and conditional formatting options save time and simplify common spreadsheet tasks. Choose from a wide variety of budgets, schedules, and other pre-made spreadsheets — all designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier.

Slides

Google slides allow you to choose from a variety of presentation themes. There are hundreds of fonts, embedded video and animations as well. A wide array of pitches, portfolios and other pre-made presentations are also available.

Forms

Imagine the ability to create a pop quiz without having to print off copies and wait for students to attend your class? Google Forms is also a great place to get feedback from students. For example, lets say you want to create a place for students to leave questions or comments. Rather than sending out an email and getting overwhelmed with responses, you can create a form for them to list their name and comment or question. It’s also a great way for all students to see what their online classmates are thinking, just as if they were in a school classroom asking a question.

Sites

One of Google’s oldest platforms, Google Sites is easiest way for you to create a website for your classroom. Update it as regularly as you wish or simply use your class website to present year long resources, including links to safe websites for research. Many teachers provide a link to our safe search engine for kids to use..

Assignments

This tool allows teachers to streamline the distribution of assignments to students, as well as analyze and grade all work. Google Assignments integrates into your LMS (Learning Management System after your school administrator has turned on the tool within your domain. Learn more about how it works at https://edu.google.com/intl/en_ca/assignments/

Meet

Here is where you set up your classrooms for virtual learning. Just as all of Google for Education tools, it’s free for schools and gives you complete control to meet security and privately. You can block students from using classic Hangouts and Google Chat on their school-managed Chromebooks. You can block all students. Or, set different rules for students in certain groups.

Chrome

There are a lot of benefits to making Google chrome your default browser. First and foremost is the idea that Chrome works best with Google.  Since you’re using all of these Google tools you’re less likely to encounter any snags. Using Google Chrome also allows you to keep everything the same no matter what device you are using thanks for Chrome Sync.   

Gmail

Pretty straight forward here. Your Google email is connected to your Google account and has the same log in credentials as any Workspace tool you are currently using, all while maintaining efficient communication between administrators, teachers, and students. Gmail is not required by students to be part of an online class, but they will need a Google account and an alternate email address to get class notifications.

Calendar

The easy way to schedule online classes. Students and parents are always kept “in the loop” and everyone can get reminders about upcoming activities. You can also create multiple calendars that everyone can use together. Use of this app by all participants means students don’t have to create their own calendars to keep track of their schedules.

Contacts

Busy teachers often have different groups they need to communicate with. With Contacts you can organize and merge your contacts, as well as create personal mailing lists. Quickly send messages to specific groups of people with a single click.

Keep

The quick way to stay organized.  Create quick lists and add structured information and sub tasks.  Easily access your notes and lists on the web and your mobile devices.   Google Workspace administrators can control who uses Google Keep within your school. Users who have Keep turned on can use it to create, manage, and share notes within your school.

Admin

Google for Education within every school is controlled by an administrator. The Google Admin console is their access to manage all teachers and students using Workspace. There are plenty of free online tutorials to learn how to operate all of Google’s work and educationally based apps.  Google also provides training for educators to become Google Workspace administrators to fully utilize the power of the formally named platform G Suite.   Courses are held online and are regularly scheduled to continued availability.

Shared Workspace

Learn how a shared workspace online can benefits students for better learning, as well as encouraging collaboration with other teachers.  Explore ways teachers can use GitHub in the classroom.

Few families have not traveled together. Families gel and become one unit in part because of their ability to travel together. It is one of the foundations of human civilization. As families migrated countless millennia ago, they bonded together as cohesive units that in time, becoming what we are today.

A typical family trip is one of the best ways to create wonderful memories and make your kids fall in love with traveling.  If you want your kids to get bitten with the travel bug, follow these points:

Take Them to Different Places

If you keep going to the same town or lakeside townhouse year after year, it is an axiomatic assumption that your kids are going to get bored after the first few trips. After all, there are only so many places you can go sightseeing, and only so many times you can fish from the same river. Eventually, they are going to end up getting severely bored. When that happens, they will try to avoid your travel plans. And come up with weird excuses.

If your kids start complaining of tummy aches and the like, on the eve of your annual sojourn to your favorite mountain cabin, maybe it is time to rethink your priorities. It would be a great idea to allow them to decide on your next vacation spot. This way, they will be fully involved in the whole process and they will do their level best to find the best places for everyone.

Explain Things Beforehand

Always remember that a confused child is an unhappy child. In addition, if they are first-time travelers, you must explain everything to them beforehand, as clearly and as concisely as possible. If there are excessive stimuli, they might become uncomfortable

Here, it would be a good idea to go over an outline of the entire trip. You should explain what they would see and experience so that they will be able to understand the whole point of the trip. If they are aware of what is going to happen in advance, they will be full of anticipation, rather than apprehension.

Don’t Overpack

Many traveling families tend to pack just about everything including the kitchen sink. They believe that having familiar items around will make their routines more consistent and they will always have what they need, right at hand. Unfortunately, this is not a good idea at all. You will likely be carrying all that extra luggage along with your kids from destination to destination. You don’t want to do that.

On the other hand, it is a far better idea to pack as little as possible. This way, you will be able to travel light and also be comfortable at the same time. Not only will you remain safe from sore arms and an aching back, but you won’t have to take care of everything all the time. You can always buy whatever you need from elsewhere. And your kids will love all the new things you get them.

Take a Road Trip

There are few bonding opportunities as exciting as a road trip. This holds particularly true if you have an international driving permit and can opt for road trips abroad. This is a great way to teach them about the local culture and traditions. Best of all when you have your transport, and you will not be dependent on flight schedules, bus and train timings, and the like.

You can take all kinds of healthy snacks with you and make sure your kids do not go hungry. If the trip were to be a very long one, with little scenery along the road, it would be a wise plan to pack a few games with you, at least until you get to a more scenic part of your route.

Conclusion

If you want your family to bond together, it is a really good idea to take a trip, specifically a road trip. If you handle it right, your kids will just simply love traveling with you, whenever and wherever you want to go!

Discovering Together: Crafting Magical Moments While Traveling with Kids