How Does A Parent Know When It Is Time For Professional Help For Their Child?

Successfully raising a child from day one to year 18 is a noble feat. There is no viable argument that could say otherwise. Even those without children can easily empathize with how difficult it must be to take on the responsibilities of raising a fellow human being. Parenting difficulties start with sleepless nights, are followed by the terrible two's and then ultimately replaced with rebellious teenage years. Yes, the 18-year path of every parent is commendable. Out of all the challenges a parent faces, the most difficult and gut-wrenching may be deciding whether or not to seek professional help for their troubled child.

When Is it Time to Pull The Therapeutic Trigger on Professional Help for A Struggling Child?

Unfortunately, parents all too often perceive their severely depressed child's mental and emotional health issues as nothing more than adolescent behavioral growing pains. To these types of parents, boys will be boys; girls will be girls and teens will always have issues. However, there is a fine line separating hormonal teenage moodiness and mild to severe mental illness - the latter being a lot more common than people realize. 

Depression's Even More Depressing Numbers

According to Suicide.org, 20% of American teens suffer from depression. What's worse, only 30% of those millions of depressed teens get treated for their mental illness[1].

Many parents fail to realize the severity of teenage depression, thus proving that ignorance is not always blissful. In fact, when it comes to undiagnosed depression, ignorance can be fatal. According to recent statistics, a teen kills themselves every minute and a half. Until parents of hormonal and moody teens realize the potentially tragic outcome of undiagnosed and untreated depression, the number of teenage suicide will undoubtedly exacerbate. 

ATTENTION PARENTS: If you have a depressed teenage child, don't let the previous statistics send you into a downward spiral of panic. Instead, use these statistics as the wake-up call they were intended to be. Furthermore, use these morbid numbers as the motivation you need to seek professional help for your own, suffering child.

Not All Depression Statistics are Depressing: 80% of depressed teens can be successfully treated after receiving proper therapeutic treatment

While teenage depression is a severe issue, it is also a highly treatable one; statistics show that 80 % of teens can be treated if they receive some form of professional help. As to the answer to the question of millions of parents who are frantically asking, "when it is time to seek treatment for a child?" the answer is simple: If your child is even mildly depressed, it's time to seek professional help. If you are a parent who is unsure whether their child is depressed, then it's crucial to seek the professional help of a therapist for a confirmed diagnosis. But most importantly, remember this, making choices as a parent may be difficult at times, but when faced with the potential threat of losing a child, tough parental decisions all of the sudden become easier to make.

[1]"Why Are So Many Teens Depressed?" https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/teen-depression-signs-help.htm