Is Your Teenager Dealing
Are you supporting a teenager with diagnosed or suspected psychosis?
You may often feel stressed, overwhelmed and isolated if you are taking care of your child alone.
The following information may help you understand what your son or daughter is going through and how you can look after yourself.
What is Psychosis?
Psychosis is a condition that affects the way the brain processes information. It is a temporary loss of contact with reality in which the individual displays obvious changes in personality, sometimes seeing and hearing things that aren’t real and experiencing delusions that are fixed false beliefs.
Psychosis in teens is not common and often is confused for other behavioural or mental health conditions. Symptoms of psychosis can be temporary and can be treated effectively with antipsychotic medications and therapy. Some conditions such as Schizophrenia, in which psychotic symptoms occur, can be long-term.
Symptoms of Teenagers with Psychosis
Symptoms of psychosis in teens vary depending on their age. Some of the earliest indications may present themselves in developmental problems as early as childhood, such as delays in speaking and walking or abnormal motor behaviour. As a child grows into a teenager, their symptoms may include:
- Changes in personality such as social withdrawal, isolation and loss of interest in everyday activities
- Changes in emotions such as uncharacteristic anxiety, anger or moodiness
- Disordered thinking – slow, muddled, disrupted thoughts which may be expressed through speech
- Disordered behaviour – unusual, inappropriate, extreme or risky actions
- Disregarding personal hygiene
- Delusions – fixed false beliefs that can’t be changed by evidence; for instance, the person can be convinced that “they are God” or that “someone is trying to kill them” despite there being no real reason for this belief
- Finding it hard to calm down and have a good sleep
- Hallucinations – hearing voices or otherwise sensing things that aren’t real; this can include seeing, smelling, tasting and hearing things that others can’t sense
- Inability to express thoughts and emotions properly
- Occurring social or academic problems in schools
- Tendency to seek or depend on illegal substances such as alcohol and drugs
What Causes Psychosis?
- Hereditary – genetic predisposition; sometimes runs in the family
- Biochemical – shortage or excess of certain chemicals in the brain
- Lifestyle – stress, lack of sleep, substance abuse such as alcohol, marijuana and LSD
- Trauma – experiences such as death, war or sexual assault
- Psychological – a symptom of mental challenges such as schizophrenia, bipolar, severe depression or Alzheimer’s Disease
Diagnosing a Teenager with Psychosis
Teenage psychosis is not common, although, not impossible. A diagnosis involves systematic interviews alongside ruling out other behavioural and mental health conditions. If you are a parent or a sibling of a teenager suspected to be experiencing psychosis, the first step is to get a proper diagnosis by speaking to a GP.
Treatment for your Teenager with Psychosis
Treatment with antipsychotics as prescribed by your doctor is the most common therapy for people experiencing psychosis. However, the medication does not treat or cure the underlying condition that triggered the condition. The medication only helps lessen and/or manage psychotic episodes; additional therapy should be sought to address the underlying triggers. This may require a lifestyle change, for instance, stopping the use of recreational drugs, trauma therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or another form of therapy and/or treatment tailored to the individual to help them connect back to reality.
An appropriate treatment plan should be discussed with the treating clinician so that you, as a parent or a sibling to the teenager experiencing psychosis, can help ease the pain experienced by your family member and in return be able to manage your household and create a nurturing and peaceful environment for everyone.
How to help your Teenager with Psychosis
As a parent, there is always a strong desire to ‘fix’ or ‘solve’ your child’s problem, however, mental health illness is a sensitive condition that requires professional help. The best thing you can do is to immediately seek help to prevent further development of psychosis in your teenager. Find them an appropriate service through a GP, mental health phone line, mental health service or by searching online. Once your child received a proper diagnosis and have been assigned a treatment plan, you can help support your teen by being there for them and creating a conducive and nurturing environment where your teen can live out the treatment – an example would be making sure that no harmful substances such as alcohol or drugs are within their vicinity and can cause regress.
How to help yourself
Having a child who lives with mental health challenges can be exhausting, frustrating, confusing and isolating. But you don’t have to go through it alone, especially if you are the primarily the one taking care of your teenager with Psychosis.
HelpingMinds® offers free and confidential support to people who are caring for someone living with mental health challenges. We offer free counselling, support groups, rest and revive activities, school holiday programs, family programs, youth programs and advocacy to people living in WA.
Get Support from HelpingMinds®
Would you like to know more about free and confidential mental health carer services and how we can support you? Please feel free to contact HelpingMinds® via the form below or on (08) 9427 7100. For one of our team to get back to you, we will require your email address and/or phone number. Please know all information provided will be treated completely confidential and in line with our privacy policy.
