I am worried about my 12.5-year-old son. I am not sure whether his symptoms are physical or psychological (or both). For the past few months I’ve been putting his snappy mood, “kevin and perry” like behaviour down to puberty, which he is fully in the midst of. But something hasn’t felt quite right and I’d like an opinion here from those who have experienced the teenage years. He says he feels exhausted all the time, no matter how much sleep he gets, and sometimes he is so tired that he can barely make it to lunch. He did not used to be like this. He plays football but seems to have lost interest recently which is a big change, and his play on the pitch has been declining, and he has been slower and less sharp. He is under no pressure to be “good” it’s just a marked decline.
At training the other night, he said the lights felt too bright, and he felt confused about whether what he was experiencing was real. It felt like he was describing depersonalisation. He has also mentioned that life feels boring and repetitive, with the same routine of school, home, and sleep. He has lots of friends, so I do not think it is a social issue, and his school reports have been good. He is mostly out and about at weekends with Friends and not holed up in his room, so I don’t understand his “it’s all just so boring, it’s the same everyday”
He occasionally notices floaters in his eyes, though his most recent eye exam was normal. Again, occcasional headaches but few and far between. Generally eats well and is a healthy BMI so nothing jumping out there.
Saw a GP who was very dismissive, probably didn’t help my son said “fine” to every question he was asked and she basically shrugged it off as welcome to your teenager. Which is fine if correct, but something feels off to me and I’m worried 😢