Q&A on teen issues with psychiatrist Dr Sandra Scott and SAFE@LAST's Tracy Haycox (Aviva will donate £2 to Railway Children for every Q you ask) - ANSWERS BACK

[RachelMumsnet]

Aviva will donate £2 to charity Railway Children for every question posted.

We're running a series of Q&As with experts with the Charity Railway Children and Aviva as part of our campaign to provide help and support to children who have run away from home, or are at risk of doing so.
 
This week we're pleased to have the UK's foremost psychiatrist Dr Sandra Scott, and Tracy Haycox, Director of Children and Young People's Services at SAFE@LAST, as our panel experts to answer your questions on teenage psychological issues, as well as how to approach the subject of running away from home with your child. 

For every (proper & genuine) question submitted, Aviva will donate £2 to Railway Children. You can post a maximum of three questions per post on the thread. 

£2 will also be donated for everyone who 'likes' and recommends this thread on Facebook (by clicking 'Recommend' at the top) and if you 'like' any of the articles here.

Do please join in, have your questions answered and help that money stack up!

Send your questions for the experts before Wednesday 6 March and we'll link to their answers to a selection of questions from this page on Monday 25 March.

Dr Sandra Scott's previous experience has included family therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and parent/child work. SAFE@LAST is a Railway Children partner which offers a range of services to children, young people and their families including preventative education, a helpline, one-to-one support, family work, street based youth work, a refuge and return home interviews.

Having a child run away from home is pretty much every parent's nightmare - and sadly, it's much more common that you think. Figures show that a child runs away from home or care in the UK every five minutes - that amounts to 100,000 each year. Railway Children exists to not only help provide safety and support for these children but also to help educate young people on the risks and alternatives to running away from home, to prevent more from doing so.
 

[thewhistler]

How can one increase resilience in a teenager?

Parents are often the targets of hostility, especially son father , in the teenage years. Any tips?

Any tips when one of the parents or one of the dcs is on the artistic spectrum, aspergers? Any ways to defuse and calm the teenage angst?

[thewhistler]

Autistic, not artistic!

[thewhistler]

Autistic, not artistic!

[gazzalw]

How do you strike a good balance twice allowing your teen to have personal space and finding that they have retreated to their bedroom never to voluntarily come out?

Our DS is 12 and is becoming a bit of a hermit although he is quite sociable with his friends when he does emerge! It is quite difficult to enthuse him to anything except Minecraft ;-(. Do we act now to prevent him becoming more withdrawn or let him be,expecting that he will emerge from his cocoon when he is good and ready?

Thanks

[holstenlips]

How is best to encourage a young teen to take more care of their hygiene and a healthier diet, without creating self esteem issues?? Thanks

[oopslateagain]

What is the best way to 'engage' with a teen who has withdrawn from family life? It seems fairly normal for teens to disappear into their bedroom and only emerge for meals, but it makes it difficult to really talk about any issues they may have.

[gazzalw]

twice should read 'twixt' - GRRRR!

[swallowedAfly]

i'm currently supporting a girl who is 17 and looking likely to be made homeless by her mother, and would be better off for being out of the household imo as there are big issues there if there was actually anywhere for her to go.

she has had suicide attempts and is clearly very distressed and has spent time in a unit but camhs keep closing her case and her social worker is playing disappearing act games with her and giving anyone trying to get in touch with them in an offical capacity (i work in an FE college) the runaround.

it seems flagrant that what is happening is that they are stalling and hiding knowing she will be 18 soon and not their problem - it is quite sickening how obviously they are avoiding dealing with her and trying to close cases etc so they can avoid responsibility.

i am told by our onsite mental health team and safeguarding officer that this is very, very common and they see it time and time again.

what mental health services should be available for 17 year olds and what safeguards them from this kind of playing time by services? what happens when she turns 18? is it just go to GP and be referred to the community mental health team and see a psychiatrist every 6 months if she's lucky? what kind of housing options are there for vulnerable teenagers with mental health problems and unsuitable/unsafe homes?

there is no way she can cope going into independent living in a few months time but there seems to be no way to help her.

[borninastorm]

What is the best way to support a 13/14 year old teenager who has been bereaved by the suicide of a friend of the same age?

What is the best kind of outside help I can get for her: specialist bereavement by suicide counselling or CBT? Or could CRUSE be a good place to start and then move onto CBT?

Can you recommend any really good (non patronising, her words not mine) books to help a teenager bereaved by the suicide of a friend?

Having never faced anything like this before I'm struggling to know what is the best way forward to help my teenager who has accepted that she will benefit from some outside help and advice.

[NotMostPeople]

Do you think Tool Academy is a suitable programme for teens?

[DizzyHoneyBee]

What should you do when teens are using inappropriate bad language in the presence of impressionable younger siblings?

[slambang]

How do we strike a balance between openly and honestly talking about the risks and excitements in the world (sex, drugs, motorbikes,,travel, adventure) without sounding either too naggy and boring (No, don't. Drugs are bad. Be careful. Always use a condom. etc etc) or slack and boundary-less (You can tell me all about it. I wont be shocked etc)?

[thewhistler]

How do you combat obsession with technology?

How do you get a teen to read?

How do you get a teen to work?

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

How would you deal with a teenager stealing money from you, their father and/or their siblings? Ds3 does this, despite getting an allowance from us and earning £25 a week from his paper round.

[cats22]

How can you rebuild a relationship with a teen who is uncommunicative?
Who can a child/teen turn to if they feel the need to run away?
Is there any help available for families who are struggling to communicate/function well?

[flow4]

When my son was little, I spent a lot of energy on 'positive parenting': giving him loads of positive and affirming feedback, helping him succeed and enjoy what he did, protecting him from horrible experiences, and generally making life good for him.

As he got older, and naturally spent more time in new environments, of course I couldn't make 'everything OK' for him any more. But I still tried to support him and 'kiss it all better' at home.

In his teenage years, he has had a lot of trouble, particularly coping with disappointment, rejection, failure and fear of failure. In his early teens, he swung straight into 'fight or flight', and had no other tactics - no 'middle way' of dealing with things. He seems to have little resilience, and little idea of how to cope when things are going less-than-well. I started to wonder whether I had made things too good for him as a child - perhaps he needed more 'practice' at dealing with difficult situations?

Would you advocate deliberately making sure that children always have experiences of dealing with difficulties, even from a young age, to help develop their resilience and long-term mental well-being?

[ripsishere]

My problem with my daughter is lack of opportunity to go wild! it sounds a strange thing to say but she spends virtually 100% of her spare time with me and my husband.
We live out of the UK and her school friends just aren't that interested in socializing. School work is the way to go at her school.
I am concerned that if and when we do return to the UK she'll go a bit barmy. I suppose we are fortunate that there is not a drug culture here (death penalty) nor do people seem to drink much alcohol.
Although she isn't yet 12, it does occupy a lot of my thoughts.

[NancyMumsnet]

Hello everyone, thanks for your questions. We've got the answers back now and you can see them here.