Is my daughter depressed?
My daughter is currently 18, she does have a job, and goes to college. I remember asking her last week if she liked anything specific, like bands or certain actors, and she laughed and said "not really". I know just judging on that it seems far-fetched but I also remember asking if she's made any new friends at college and laughed and said "I never had friends", now that I think about it, I've never heard her talking about friends ever throughout highschool. In middle school I know she had 1 or 2. One day I kinda...snooped through her contacts because I couldn't believe that she had no friends, but the only people she had on her phone is her family and a few teachers. She only seems to text her sister. A few years ago we did go to a therapist and if she was despresses they would have told me, wouldn't they? She does smile and laugh, she's not a bad kid. She does what she's told and helps out with chores and keeps her grades up. How do I bring up the discussion of depression without her laughing it off and changing the subject? (she has done that) I know it's not in my place to tell her what to do because she's an adult now, I'm just worried she's not happy...any help would be appreciated!
Is my daughter depressed?
(I know, it's long, but please read.) My daughter is 14 years old, shes going to be a freshman next year and recently I've noticed some changes. Well, shes a cheerleader for her school(captain) she's very good. She was planning on trying out again for next year and out of the blue she decided not too. And she LOVES cheering. But its not only that. She's popular, and very beautiful, funny, and nice. She used to always be hanging out with her friends and now she hardly does but she's has fun at school. She recently started getting bed as soon as she got home from school(not sleeping, but just watching t.v. or texting or just laying there). She has random times of crying and has become very sensitive. She almost seems more lazy, and she is a very active girl usually. I haven't said anything besides stuff like "is everything okay?" and she just replies "yeah. i'm just tired." With that, she also has been very tired and sleeping a lot lately and going to bed very early. I'm worried. Please help. Thank you.
Is my 13 yr old daughter depressed?
I am worried that my 13 yr old daughter might be depressed, but I'm not sure if it's just a phase. Heres what convinces me that she might be depressed: 1. I found a book of poetry that she has written; it's very dark and speaks of death and being miserable. 2. The other day I heard her on the phone crying, I assume she was talking to her best friend because she's told me that this girl is the 'only one who understands' her. I didn't ask her what was wrong, I knew she wouldn't tell me and just get mad. (Does that make me a bad mom??) 3. She doesn't dress particularly, um, gothic (is that what the kids call it now?), but she doesn't exactly love bright colors either. For example , she doesn't wear all black but she hates pink. She doesn't wear makeup except for just a tiny line of eyeliner. So while she's not gothic looking, she's not preppy looking either. 4. She has started sleeping much later. She used to get up at 7:00 am on weekends, now she gets up around 10:00 am and thats because I MAKE HER. 5. She doesn't eat with us anymore. When we go to dinner, she refuses to come. 6. I have seen cuts on various parts of her body, but she always blames our 4 cats. 7. She stopped listening to mainstream "pop" and has changed her music to more cynical things, such as rock and music with screaming in it. (I can't stand it!!!) 8. She is obsessed with these creepy looking dolls, they decorate her computer, and cell phone, and room. I think they're called "blythe". They're really creepy. 9. She doesn't care about going to any of her friend's houses anymore except for the best friend that I referenced earlier, the one she was on the phone with. 10. ALL she seems to care about is her computer and cell phone. 11. Her grades have dropped drastically and she stopped studying and she tells me that she does her homework in homeroom. So, I would normally think this is depression, BUT i know how teens can be these days which leads me to think this a phase. What do you guys think ? Have you dealt with a child like this before? Should I get her help? Thanks in advance. ~Julia
I think my daughter is depressed?
My 17 year old daughter has been really quiet and when we go visit to my mother's house she sleeps on the couch instead of talking to her cousins. She always says she's tired and when I scold her because of it, she stays awake but instead of going to her cousins she gets working on her homework or sits quietly. When I question her why she won't speak to her cousins or her aunts she says it's because they hate her since she changed her appearance and she feels bad. I recently let her pierce her nose so she has two nose piercings along with a cartilage? piercing and stretched ears. She says it's because of her "dark" image and her piercings that they hate her. I know she used to self-harm and she stopped but I'm afraid she will begin doing it again. She went through a period of mild depression during middle school because her friends left her. She says her high school friends are all fake and that she only has Hayley, a girl who goes to concerts with her and studies at another high school. My husband and I are really worried, what should we do?
Is it my fault my daughter is suicidal and depressed?
My daughter is 16, and has been cutting herself for a year now. I never not once noticed that she was hurting herself, and her change in behavior has slipped right past me. Nobody noticed until we got a phone call from her friend who said our daughter had just told her she was going to attempt suicide that night and that no one could stop her. She overdosed on her sisters pain pills from a surgery last year that we haven't thrown out and we had to take her to the hospital. She did it in her car in the driveway and passed out when no one was home. She's in the pysch ward for 3 weeks and then we will see how she's doing. She's getting counseling and the attention that she needs. She isn't allowing any visitors. Not even me or her father. I feel horrible, like this is all my fault. I almost let my daughter kill herself. She's had an absolutely stable life, no deaths in the family, my husband and i are still together and we do not reek a lot of havoc into her life...i work full time and so does her father and she used to have tons of friends and now she only has two. She's always been a good kid, she was the happiest child and she has always made good grades, makes A's with no problem and she's even told me that. She's always had all the opportunities others have. My husband and I thought were doing something right for a long time. I feel horrible, like i've let her just slip past me and i've failed completely as a parent. I haven't had a chance to talk to her, to see why she felt that horrible, and it's eating me alive. Is this really my fault? Am i a really a horrible parent? The doctors kept asking me questions about my daughter and if i had noticed anything and i look back and i notice now, but at the time she always seemed just fine and she's always talked to me about things, she's never ever told me she felt depressed or suicidal.
I think my daughter is depressed! Help?
I've noticed that my daughter isn't acting like herself. She's 12, and she hasn't has her period yet. She might get it at 14. Anyway, She's told me she's always feeling tired, and I've noticed her eye bags increasing in size. She always looks down when she walks, and her face shows that she's always feeling sad. She doesn't cut herself though. She cries for no reason at all. She told me she feels like there's something missing in her life, and she can't pinpoint it. One night, she was so down I caught her trying to suicide by using the rope in the garage to make a noose. I tried to comfort her and help her every way I can, and give her things she usually gets very excited about. Now, she gets more blue. She has also mentioned that she wants to go home to Texas. Can it be that she's homesick?
What should I do as my daughter is severely depressed?
Youngsters are having trouble these days and depression is fairly common and very unfortunate.It is sometimes easier to talk to a stranger than someone from home. If she is willing to see a counsellor then that would be the best option.If she is not open to the suggestion, then try and involve her in some charitable activity. Often, helping those less fortunate can have a healing effect. Depending on her nature and interests, you could take to an old people’s home or orphanage or dog shelter. These activities must be real for her, not a time-pass.“That’s the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it’s impossible to ever see the end.”~ Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation
My 13 year old daughter is depressed about being a woman. What can I do to help her?
Hi! I felt exactly the same way and dressed and tried to act like a boy around ages 11 and 12, for the same reasons as your daughter. I wasn’t gay or transgender; I just felt like boys had it better in so many ways and girls were treated as “less than”. I was adventurous, sporty, proud, disorderly, and had lots of “masculine” traits and didn’t like the pressures on me to act feminine. I also didn’t like the way female heroines were portrayed: their stories were less about adventure and success and more about getting the guy, plus in movies they were typically impossibly pretty (I think Princess Leia from Star Wars, who looked like a normal person not a model and was a successful leader, was the sole exception I remembered). I internalized this and started to dislike and look down on all “girly” things (the color pink, playing with dolls instead of sports). But it was hard not to end up looking down on myself because no matter how much I acted like a boy and tried to fit in with the guys, I knew I was a girl.I was able to get out of that position, and became infinitely happier as a result. It took a couple of years and being in a space where I was surrounded by women who brought me joy. I made two close female friends who I spent a lot of time with, the boys I knew grew up and stopped acting like “girly-girls have cooties”, I even started wearing dresses which I had previously hated because I realized they are more comfortable.The solution: consider enrolling your daughter in an all-girls’ school. Every girl I know who attended an all-girls’ school came out with the ability to make strong female friendships but more importantly a sense of confidence and joy that is very rare in women in society today. Women focus so much on their appearance and desirability, often end up being out-talked by boys in class, and get told they are different or lesser in a lot of ways. But girls who attended all-girls’ elementary and middle schools, I find, have an inner self-confidence that comes from not being around boys who hit on them, or having drama in the friend group over boys, or seeing boys get preferential treatment, or feeling pressure to act sexual or feminine at a very pivotal time in their lives. That’s what made the different for me.Seriously, give it a thought.Sincerely, Olivia
My Teenage Daughter Is Possibly Depressed?
As a teenage girl I can sort of relate (a bit). I get the whole friends thing, because I have been feeling that way myself. I have lots of friends, but I still feel lonely a lot. Your daughter could just not really be connecting with her friends. Maybe they've changed or maybe she's changed, but she may feel stuck in a friendship group that she doesn't really enjoy anymore, and therefore not want to hang out with anyone. I can't help you on the cutting or anything, because I have never done it. Good work going to a therapist and seeking help, though. For the excessive crying, a lot of teenage girls do that. Mood swings and hormones, I guess. I cry all the time, and idk if that helps at all but it's true. Something that seems trivial to one person seems llike the end of the world to a teenager. The fat thing is normal too. You must have heard about all the complaints and fears that the media are making teenagers (especially girls) feel the pressure to be skinny and 'perfect'. I don't think your daughter has anorexia (but I really couldn't tell, I guess) but she must be feeling the pressure too. Again with the friends: I have found myself not wanting to hang out with mine anyway, cancelling sleepovers occasionally and asking to be picked up early. It's natural, I guess. I don't really know anything about diabetes, but maybe your daughter feels strongly about having it. If it's a life-long disease (don't laugh- I'm only 13 I have NOT studied diabetes) then I can understand the horribleness of feeling that your whole life will be blited by this disease (I have psoriasis, for which there is no cure and it is likely I will have it my whole life, so I CAN relate). Sometimes your daughter may feel that it is extremely unfair what she has and that she will never be successful/happy etc. because of something she has no control over. SO I don't know if I have helped you at all. I may have just been rambling on. The point is: some of the things your daughter is doing ARE perfectly normal.
How do I force my daughter not to have depression?
The simple answer to that is you can't.When someone has depression it is caused by many things other than just one thing. Depression is a mental illness that goes on for multiple days and to a degree depression can't be controled.When your daughter is depressed she probably feels like she doesn't fit in this world because of school, family issues, and friends. Those are the main causes to depression because many times people with depression takes more than one thing to make us depressed and when it happens we don't feel good about oneself. That's why I said she probably feels like she doesn't fit in.Now a segusstion you could make to your daughter is to ask her if she would like to get some counseling without you, to where a perfessional can talk to her. Another thing that helps people with depression is having good people around you that make you feel good about yourself and people who don't take advantage of you. It will help to a degree it might not totally sure it right away, but after time hopefully it will.One final thing is tell her to go exercise. I'm not saying to run, but take a walk and listen to your favorite music and when she is walking she might find herself dance walking because exercising helps get your happy endorphins going, but no matter what you can't force anyone out of depression.These are my thoughts and opinions based off of my expierences of depression.I am not a professional, but I am a person who struggles with depression.