MaryZ's support thread for parents of troubled teenagers

[MaryZcary]

I am starting this thread in the hope that it will become a safe space for those of us strugging with very challenging teenage behaviour.

I'm hoping that it will be a support thread, rather than descend as so many threads do into a "criticism of the parents". Those of us in this situation know that it is pretty much impossible to just "tell them to stop" or to "ground them", and taking away phones, money and gadgets leads to lying stealing and running away .

Sadly it seems cannabis is at the bottom of an awful lot of these children's problems, and I'm hoping we can talk about that here without having to defend ourselves against the "cannabis does no harm" brigade. So if anyone tries to turn it into an argument about whether cannabis is addictive or harmful, could you please just ignore them and hope they go away - or start another thread which I can hide where they can argue away happily.

Anyway, sign in if you are interested. I'll be back later.

[stig0fthedump]

I'm new here. I have a boy of 14 (6'2'') who has been extremely difficult over the last few months. So far it is all in the home and we have no issues outside or at school. In many ways he is a model student with lots of outside activities and interests which just makes it that much harder to get professionals interested.

I found this article quite helpful on understanding some of his behaviours and how our reaction as parents can make matters worse. There is a section on family therapy that I also found useful.

I think the aggression discussed in the article can be anything from physical, verbal or emotional. In my case we have seen all three although we mostly get verbal and emotional...

www.dropbox.com/s/5wc99ua6bc1hixj/Adolescent%20Aggression%20Towards%20Parents.pdf

I'm interested in what others think...

Stig

[flow4]

Stig, this is a 'dead' thread.... We're all over here now.

[coocachoo]

my son tried canabis at 15 now has bi polar caused by this he wishes he never tried it is now 31 and suffers every day and has tried to end it all twice please any teens out there its not worth it....

[Triathlonwannabe]

Please don't get rid of this thread, although it hasn't been posted on, I am relying on the support and advice here from people who understand