Troubled Teenager Warning Signs
| 1. |
Your teen refuses to abide by anything you say or request, and his or her resulting behaviors put your teen or your family in danger or high risk leading to constant fear or stress in the home. |
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| 2. |
Your teen is displaying behavior that is a marked change from what has been normal (sleeping little or too long, forgetfulness, lack of motivation, aggression, depression, anxiety, grades slipping, hating what they once loved or loving what they once hated, always wanting to be with friends or away from home, or avoiding friends altogether and spending too much time alone). |
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| 3. |
Your teen has become increasingly disrespectful, dishonest, disobedient and openly displays rebellion, no longer veiling his or her feelings or caring about the consequences. |
| 4. |
There is a blatant ignorance or profound rebellion toward the boundaries, Belief System or rules of the home. This can be shown in passive aggressiveness or open defiance that is unusually excessive for your teen. |
| 5. |
There are outright or veiled threats of suicide, or self-mutilation/cutting, excessive risk-taking, dangerous drug use or blatant sexual promiscuity–seemingly a loss of a conscience or moral compass. |
| 6. |
Treatment by your teen of people, pets, or belongings is threatening or out of control. |
| 7. |
Your teen thinks he or she is the center of your family and shows blatant disregard for the feelings of other family members, their time or their possessions. |
| 8. |
Months of counseling is providing little or no positive progress for your teen. |
| 9. |
Your teen refuses to do anything with the family and displays a growing hatred for the family. |
| 10. |
You cannot keep your teen away from peers who are obviously leading a lifestyle counter to your beliefs and your teen is buying into their destructive behavior and attitudes.SCORE: ________If your teen exhibits 5 or more of these signs, you may want to contact us. |
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Observing these warning signs makes it easy to conclude that a teen may be a troubled teen in need of help. But a troubled teen can also hide many of these manifestations until he/she has become consumed by them. There are other subtle things parents need to be alerted to that are often precursors and/or indicators of deeper issues on the horizon.
Does This Describe Your Troubled Teen?
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Is your teen easily bored?
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Is he irritable, lethargic, angry or even depressed when he isn’t being entertained by a video game; a computer screen; an IPod; a cell phone; or some other stimulating or exciting activity?
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Is school work an exercise in mental brutality for him?
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Are headphones a virtual addendum to his anatomy?
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Does he find activities which should bring pleasure to an average teenager, dull and boring?
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Do activities that used to interest him and bring him pleasure no longer interest him?
Many parents write these symptoms off to “routine adolescence.”
However, these symptoms are further warning signs.
