1- I enjoyed reading your post. I would also like to add that assessing the teens situation will help in providing the right resources options. Finding resources are a great way for a nurse to suggest help for a teen. It should be geared towards adolescents and providing them with more options to be occupied and mentors. Teenagers feel more comfortable in peer counseling, than talking to an adult for example having a faith-based outreach could give a foundation that they are missing. Other options, could be youth groups, volunteering, and working with shelters, animals or homeless. This can give the teen a purpose, making them feel needed, busy and important.
2-Communicating with our children is very important, especially during the adolescence stage. Some adolescents struggle to balancing school work, sports, and trying to fit in society. I also believe that educating adolescents about depression/suicide is important. As parents we should make the teenage kids to be very comfortable sharing their concerns with us. We should avoid being over strict. Listen to them when they talk. Give them a chance to make choices and voice their view and even if we disagree, we need to look at things from their perspective. Help them build self-esteem. Spent time with them but at the same time show respect when they need space.
3-Many depressed teens feel like their family, especially parents don’t understand what it is like to be a teen or can relate to current issues teens are faced with today. It could also be that the teen thinks the parents will scold them for engaging in a particular manner or participation in inappropriate behaviors. It depends on what cause the stressors and the relationship this teen has established with the parents. Some teens may be depressed because of bullying, not fitting in, or shamed for participating in the inappropriate activity. It was one participating incident occurred in my community where a young girl hung herself after being caught with a young boy in an improper act at school. It was less than 24 hours, and the young girl was deceased. I don’t know the circumstances, but I can imagine having to face others at school after it was discussed on face book. Think about how you could have encountered your parents after an incident like this. They believe the teens won’t speak with doctors because of confidentiality. They know the doctors are usually in good standings with the parents and already have developed a relationship with them. So they are not very forthcoming with information or seeking help.