MIDLAND, Texas — Mental health problems can effect anyone, and with the growth and changes of becoming a teenager sometimes they are magnified.
"Teenagers are going through a face of life where they're starting to deal with things more independently and part of that is they are starting to not share as much about their personal experience with adults as much as they would when they were a child," said Nick Allen, a Clinical Psychology at The University of Oregon.
This can sometimes makes it harder to know exactly how your kid is feeling.
"It can be quite difficult for adults and other caregivers in young people's lives who want to be able to check in because often the young person will not feel comfortable or want to share everything that's going on, they want to keep some things private, so the critical issue is to actually build on the relationship with a young person so that they will come with you when they are ready and when they need to," Allen said. "The concept of car therapy, which is the concept that sometimes when you're on a driving trip with your adolescent when you're in the car, it's a good time to just kind of check in quickly and they may feel more comfortable in that environment because you're not looking directly at each other and you have some sense of when it's going to end."
There are some signs to look out for when it comes to how your teen may be feeling.
"If it's a pretty consistent flatness and down mood then that's more concerning than the occasional down mood which might be a little bit more normal," Allen said. "A second thing to look out for would be disturbances to things like sleep and food that can also be a sign that there's a more serious difficulty."
If your teen shows any of theses signs, assure them there is help.
"Really making them aware that there's a wide range of ways they can get mental health support and care and I think the other thing is to destigmatize these problems and to talk to people about the fact that everyone has mental health challenges in their lives that's part of being human," Allen said.