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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

worried that ds (almost 13) is depressed. what do i do?

10 replies

tibsy · 08/05/2007 10:19

hi, apologies in advance, this may be a long one.
ds has always been quite a shy, reserved child, although was such a happy, smiley little chap when little, i barely recognise him sometimes now.
i know that he's coming up to the 'dreaded' teens in a few months and that he really is disliking school atm. he seemed to settle well in year 7, but since starting year 8, has changed dramatically. he was ill at the end of last week so had 3 days off. he then made the excuse that he had a stomach ache today so he could have another day off and i'm afraid i got cross. his dad ended up driving him to school.
we've tried the 'softly, softly' approach and have asked the usual q's, 'are you being bullied?' 'is it the school work/ teachers' everything i can think of. all he could tell me this morning was that he wasnt being bullied but some of the pupils 'annoyed' him???????????????
i seriously dont know what to do, he's SO moody, hardly ever makes an effort to meet up with friends after school or on the weekends and just doesnt seem to 'enjoy' anything.
i had depression in my teens and was given ad's for a short while. i just hate to think of him feeling the way i did through those years and dont know how to help him.
tia

OP posts:
stleger · 08/05/2007 11:18

My ds has a small group of friends, who don't seem to do a lot except mooch. DD1 is 13 - he is 15 and has state exams - she is much more 'social' which has its downsides... Keeping this bumped for you in the hope someone will offer you ideas, help etc.

KTeePee · 08/05/2007 11:35

If your ds is shy, maybe he finds it hard to make arrangements to meet up with friends - or even make friends in the first place. I know it's harder when they are at secondary school because you don't really get a chance to meet the other parents - but is it possible for you to make the arrangements for a bit until he becomes more confident?

Have they mixed the classes up again in Yr 8 so he is with a group he doesn't know as well? Does he have friends from primary he still sees?

I was desperately shy as a teenager, didn't really make close friends until after I left school and it sounds to me as if that is what you need to tackle first....

mumblechum · 08/05/2007 12:49

So sorry you're going through this. If I left it to my ds (year 7), he wouldn't socialise with any of his school friends, he'd just see his village mates who all go to another school.

I think you're going to have to take charge of his social life by inviting maybe one child per fortnight after school for tea, or for a Saturday afternoon. They'lll probably have a great time once it happens, but maybe your son worries that if he invites someone directly, and that person can't make it/doesn't fancy it, he'll feel rejected.

I tend to phone the mum, organise it then present it to my ds as a fait accompli (I do check, first to make sure they haven't fallen out or anything).

My experience, however is that there just isn't the same social life at secondary as at primary, where the house was always full of children. Partly that's just because the secondaries, certainly here, have kids from a 15 mile radius so parents can't always be bothered with all the driving.

So far as the "annoying" thing goes, my ds says that about quite a lot of people as well. I think at this age they're much less tolerant, more fussy about who they'll be friends with, but if you can get them together one to one then I do think it helps with the in-school relationships.

I recognise the "not enjoying anything " bit as well. Sometimes it feels like no matter how hard you try, for example to give them a really good, fun weekend, they don't appreciate it.

Have you thought about maybe approaching the GP? These days lots of kids get depression at this age and the GPs aren't likely to dole out pills, but may refer him to a counsellor who may help just by being a sounding post.

I do hope things improve. It's a bloody rocky road at the moment, you are not alone!

tibsy · 09/05/2007 10:21

thanks to all of you ladies.
it is so reassuring to know that your child isnt the only one. i guess i 'forgot' that he's about to become a teenager. the surge of testosterone, the confusion....its bloody crap for them isnt it. to top it off, i'm a girl and cant even begin to imagine what its like being a boy, so i've asked his dad to step his fathering up a notch. i think the time has come for him to really teach ds what its like to become a man.
a friend (and colleague) phoned me yesterday, just after i'd posted and i blubbed down the phone to her!! she said something that made a lot of sense. girls have a rite of passage in starting their periods, but boys dont really have anything like that. years ago, they were called to arms or sent out to work to earn for their families. something definitive that represented them becoming 'men'.
it is the friends thing that bothers me, so i will try to encourage him to make more of an effort and end the complete apathy he sometimes shows!! but i am going to take him to the doctor, just to set my mind at rest and also send a letter to his form tutor to see if shes noticed anything.
thanks again to you all. it really has helped

OP posts:
stleger · 09/05/2007 10:37

I suppose getting spots and lots of hair in odd places isn't a rite of passage... Ds and his friends are all lank and greasy and big feet, dd and her friends are like a very large girl band! They are quite terrifying!

tibsy · 09/05/2007 19:42

lol stleger teenage boys, whatever did we see in them

OP posts:
mumblechum · 22/05/2007 13:40

Hi Tibsy, how's it going? I've just done a thread on a very similar topic, was wondering if your ds was coming out of his shell any?

MuddlingThrough · 15/06/2007 13:51

Hope you don't mind me butting in. I'm new to MNet and I joined to ask questions about my 11-year-old's difficult moods. We have awful temper tantrums from him. He explodes, shouts, can't listen. And he just can't let go of a row: he'll follow me around the house, glued to me, demanding that I reverse whatever it is that has upset him. Outside of the house his behaviour is totally different -- very shy with adults, a little withdrawn with friends and terrified of doing/saying anything at all that isn't 'right/cool' by his friends standards.
I'm pretty sure that he is depressed (there is a family history) -- but what to do to help him? He's very negative about anything we suggest, and especially about the idea of talking to any kind of councellor or whatever.
By the way, none of this behaviour is new, so it's not just a hormone thing.

tuppy · 15/06/2007 14:58
mumblechum · 15/06/2007 16:55

Maybe see if he'd go to the GP?

It's possible he's depressed, in which case talking to a counsellor may really help him.

I'd take any hint of depression seriously, have heard of 1 12 year old and 1 13 year old in local schools killing themselves recently.

My ds is much more cheerful at the moment, hope it lasts.

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