When your teenager starts to act out in ways that are negative, harmful and destructive, it’s time for you to arrange professional help. But knowing when your teen has crossed over from a typical rebellious phase to a real problem can be difficult. That’s why we’ve put together these 5 red flags to watch for to help decide when does my troubled teen need residential treatment, to help you best determine that the right time to enroll is right now.
Here are the 5 red flags to watch for:
- Traditional school is not working out. When the life of a troubled teens start to take a negative turn, school is the first area to suffer. If you are noticing your child’s grades dropping or getting notices of truancy, that’s a big red flag. While it’s typical for teens to have ups and downs with grades, you should be looking for a pattern of sloppy work, missing assignments and non-participation. Other things to look for are problems with authority at school (getting sent to the counselor’s office, for example) and getting bullied or bullying.
- Your teen’s moods are radically changing: If you notice that your teen is extremely depressed, morose or fluctuates between wild high times and ow points, it’s possible they are suffering from some kind of mental or emotional health problem. If your teen starts to talk about death, suicide or other similar kinds of views, get help sooner rather than later.
- Your child’s doctor, therapist and other professionals are contacting you for meetings and one or all recommend that perhaps a therapeutic boarding school or residential treatment center would better suit their needs. It can be hard to hear, but you must listen to the professionals who specialize in adolescent behavior and know that in their opinions your child will do better in a teen help facility.
- Your teen is harming himself or others. Whether your teenage boy or girl is using drugs or alcohol, self-harming or being aggressive with other friends and family, these are all behaviours that are harmful and destructive. If you and other family members walk on eggshells to make sure you don’t anger your teen, that is completely unacceptable behavior and needs to change. Physical violence is always inappropriate and if your teen is acting out on others, it’s time for a residential treatment center.
- You’ve lost control of your teen. As a parent, you can set rules and consequences for your household but when your teen is so defiant that all the rules and punishments don’t have any effect, it may be time to enroll your child in some kind of treatment center where there is a structured environment and constant supervision.
Many teens find a lot of success at residential treatment centers, where they are removed from their current environment and are better able to focus on setting and achieving goals, boosting self-esteem and finding success academically. No matter what your troubled teen’s issues and challenges are, you must decide for yourself when it is time for them to get residential treatment