Troubled Teens Resources

Teen crisis intervention in areas of teen depression and suicide is an inescapable necessity. And that in itself is depressing.

Parents feel a mixture of pain, sorrow and anger when confronted with a depressed teen. Often the parents instinctual response is to exclaim, “What do you have to be depressed about? Look at everything you have and everything you have to look forward to.” However, if you take the time to read teen message boards you’ll find talk of suicide is common.

“Gah i am stupid 17 today, and i was also meaning to end it but guess what i was way too gutless.
Gosh i wish i was younger and more innocent and blissful and ignorant and many other shitting things.
to sum it all up life sucks when you get older.
and the best way to fix that is…”
(Source)

At 17 she wishes that she was innocent again. That is indeed sad. While parents are telling teens that they have everything to live for,the popular culture is teaching teens to be drama queens. That same culture, via movies and TV dramas, is telling teens that the world is an ugly place without hope. Better have a good time now before it’s too late.

Media, videos, MTV are all encouraging teens to run pell mell into sexual experiences that they are not emotionally mature enough to handle. Advertisements tell the teen that whatever he has is never good enough and that he needs more. Empty celebrities gain acclaim for crude behavior and drug use while in real life that behavior has far reaching consequences.

Parents have every right to be angry that their troubled teens do not recognize their good fortunes but they have to realize that the media and the drug culture are telling them the opposite. Depressed teens need a chance to see the world without the lens of popular culture so that they have a chance to recognize that they, and life, are worthwhile.