- Image by Dark Botxy via Flickr
Changes in behavior and attitudes are normal during adolescence, but self-destructive behavior and anti-social personality changes are not. In fact, these are just the outward symptoms of a troubled teenager.
As an active parent, you should be on alert for these extreme signs of a truly trouble teenager:
- Being more secretive, which seems more than a desire for greater privacy
- Regular, sudden outbursts of anger that are clearly unreasonable and out of proportion to whatever has caused the anger
- Regularly misses curfew, does not show up when expected, and lies about his or her whereabouts (after you find out they were not where you expected them to be)
- Sudden changes in “friends” with no effort made to let you meet these new “friends.” Along with a new group is a distinct change in appearance, such as clothing and jewelry, and a sudden shift in attitude (i.e. more sullen, defiant, hostile).
- Stealing money from your purse or wallet on regular occasions, some steal jewelry, phones and other household items that they can pawn for cash.
- Extreme mood swings, for example from depression to elation (clearly manic-depressive) and seems to sleep a lot more than usual (probably clinical depression)
- Grades have suddenly dropped with no rational explanation, and your teen has lost interest in his or her usual activities
The natural changes in behavior that adolescence brings are fleeting, but extreme shifts in behavior that show a consistent pattern over time definitely mark your child as a troubled teen. The worst thing that you could do as a parent is to make excuses for your child and postpone any form of intervention. Do not wait to see your teen acquire a drug habit, develop alcoholism, or land in juvenile prison.
