As social distancing, quarantine and self-isolation become normal parts of all of our vocabularies while we deal with the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, everyone is feeling the pressure. For adults, it’s trying to work, be a parent, a teacher, and cope with health and financial concerns.
For teens, the effects on overall mental health are also evident. As they adjust to an unprecedented shift in their educational, social and personal lives, it’s an added pain point for an already complicated time.
There are no new tricks for opening lines of communication with your teen. Even with the whole family being under one roof for the majority of the time, the same tried and tested methods of talking to kids remains the same, even for families where one or more of the adults in the home are on the front lines and they are heading to work in essential jobs.
The best strategy is to be present, put down your devices, be attentive, and let your teens know that you want to talk to them, and importantly, you do want to listen to what they have to say. This step is essential for laying the foundations for conversations with your teens.
Even if they are typical teens, reluctant, standoffish, or slamming a door in your face, just giving them persistent, open-ended opportunities to see you as someone interested and invested in their feelings is powerful.
The second tip is to listen and let them lead the conversation a little bit. If you have a kid who shuts the door and pushes you out, knock on that door and see if you can engage that child. Don’t give up after one rejection, keep trying because the repetitive act shows your child that you are interested.
If you’re knocking and getting a brick wall response, try asking a question through the door or cracking it open and having a brief conversation that way. You want to essentially gently pull your child out from behind that closed door. For some kids that can take a lot of effort, but it’s well worth it because, if they know you’re interested in engaging, they will often allow you to engage.
If you need to talk to a professional about mental health in teens, then contact the experts at Parent 999 today.