51
votes
Accepted
How can we motivate a young adult without breaking the family?
Joe's excellent answer is sufficient in itself. I just wanted to add my experience as a parent (and maybe my experience with troubled kids.)
This is one of the hardest phases of parenting: the (nearly)...
- 68.2k
33
votes
How can we motivate a young adult without breaking the family?
What worked for a family member of one of my relatives was fairly straightforward: set rules or limits based on what works for the parents, and largely otherwise letting go. The parents spent years ...
- 60.4k
19
votes
Story of a sad mom - adult son who is violent and suffering from depression
when I was driving and he used bad words to me and punched to my head many time, I wanted to call 911 , but he said I will kill you later if you do it.
We asked police before , but they said we can ...
- 10.2k
15
votes
Accepted
Should I push my parents to divorce?
Should I push my parents to divorce?
To make it plain: No.
The answer is "no" for at least two reasons:
The decision whether or not to divorce is quite complex, with multiple consequences either ...
- 2,698
12
votes
How can we motivate a young adult without breaking the family?
I'm not a parent, but once upon a time I was a somewhat similarly troubled young adult -- you mentioned she spends a significant amount of time reading, so maybe suggest she try her hand at writing? ...
- 221
11
votes
16 year old boy with existential crisis
I don't think this is a problem. Source: I went through something similar, as did several of my friends.
This is normal.
This is not unusual. Also, it is quite possible that his claims are correct. ...
- 1,085
8
votes
Grandparents want to raise my son but I want him back
but I want to raise him myself once I'm able to get rid of my postpartum symptoms and once I'm stronger as a single parent
I understand that you want to raise your son. I think you should explain ...
- 8,635
7
votes
As a teenager, my mom refuses to believe that I have anxiety/depression/ possibly ADHD. How can I help her understand that she is hurting me?
As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety and was finally diagnosed with ADHD in their 30's, I feel your pain on this one.
What can you do to convince your mother you have them? ...
- 1,030
7
votes
How to help my adult son who lives at home, is depressed and withdraws from the outside world?
Although it's not clear exactly what you're asking, I can sense your frustration and it sounds like you are fresh out of ideas. So I am assuming you're looking for new ideas, and with that said:
...
- 201
7
votes
How can we motivate a young adult without breaking the family?
This is based on my experience as a young adult whose life ground to a halt for a long, long time.
First of all, I believe you should act, immediately. Your daughter is not a functioning adult. And ...
- 649
6
votes
Accepted
Should young children be kept away from a depressed relative if the latter ignores them?
Unless your brother is hostile, or sullen, or otherwise behaves inappropriately around your children, I don't think you need to keep him away from them.
I think it's healthy for your children to ...
- 3,753
6
votes
How to keep away suicidal thoughts from my 15-year-old son who says "life is meaningless" after his friend's suicide?
I'm sorry for what your family is going through. It must be very frightening for all involved, and really does require the help of a professional or two (or three.) You might benefit from individual ...
- 68.2k
5
votes
Should I push my parents to divorce?
Put simply, no, I don't think you should push your parents for divorce. In addition to the answer that sleske gave, I'd give you these points to consider:
Depression is a horrible mental illness that ...
- 179
5
votes
Story of a sad mom - adult son who is violent and suffering from depression
Your situation is indeed very sad. You have tried to do everything right by your son, unfortunately he has made very poor choices, which have negatively impacted everyone.
I think all you can really ...
- 3,753
5
votes
How do I help an 11-year-old who says "I want to die"?
I am seriously not qualified to say anything specific, but depression might not be what you think it is. Please, go with your daughter to the doctor. Talk to the doctor first in private.
I think ...
- 17.5k
5
votes
Im scared of my dads yelling at me for little things
It's a good first step that you asked for help. But your problem can't be solved by random people on the internet and therefore isn't a good fit for this web site.
But there are people who can help ...
- 1,022
5
votes
How can we motivate a young adult without breaking the family?
Not a parent but a child who had massive difficulties entering adulthood.
Social anxiety, depression, OCD, terrible self-esteem... Perfect configuration for failure.
I tried university, ended up very ...
- 51
4
votes
Accepted
How to deal with an unsupportive parent
Well, first I'd suggest you give counseling a chance. There are lots of ways this can be arranged, including working with someone at school, such as a social worker. It helped me not take things so ...
- 5,037
4
votes
Is my granddaughter Transgender?
Anxiety and depression are pretty common when you don't get along with your parents and they're abusive. So that's not really a huge surprise.
'Laziness' or a lack of motivation and energy is common ...
- 5,102
4
votes
My wife is under treatment for depression and just had a traumatic labor. What can I do to help her?
The most important thing is to be aware of the signs of depression in general, and to seek professional help even for apparently minor issues. You've already got that covered because of the ...
- 22.6k
4
votes
16 year old boy with existential crisis
Talking to an expert can only help. He has to learn that our expectations are rarely fulfilled, and that we have to learn to live with life when it doesn't go as planned. With more experience, he will ...
- 57
4
votes
By brother is lonely and has turned to the internet to fill his social craving. How do I tell my parents without betraying his trust?
I see no evidence that anyone has done anything wrong that needs fixing yet. Going on the internet is not something that requires "cleaning up". Maybe his family should work harder to make sure that ...
- 3,900
4
votes
Shall I be worried about my 5-year-old son seeming to be depressed when at his mom's?
Some thoughts, unordered:
Research (see below) seems to indicate that children of divorced parents are no more unhappy than children of parents still living together, if the divorced parents ...
- 1,401
4
votes
Accepted
Trying to improve brother's toxic behavior towards depressed mother
It sounds like when he is at home, he cannot help responding (and thinking) like the child he used to be. This is not uncommon. I think we can all relate at some level, when we are outside the home ...
- 8,987
4
votes
How to lessen a depressed teenager's absences?
It sounds to me like you are doing your best to help your brother. Kudos to you for the therapy, for both of you. And for trying to help bear the burden of the crushing depression that you both must ...
- 8,987
4
votes
How to keep away suicidal thoughts from my 15-year-old son who says "life is meaningless" after his friend's suicide?
tl;dr:
If you try to 'explain' life has a meaning, your son might stop listening to you.
Life might be meaningless, but it can be pretty interesting.
===
What you wrote resonates with me. My ...
- 466
4
votes
How to keep away suicidal thoughts from my 15-year-old son who says "life is meaningless" after his friend's suicide?
I have a similar situation with my 19-year old son right now. In addition to leading him to professional councelling, which you have already done, I try not to project my own fear and deep concern on ...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
What do I do as a highschooler with extremely strict parents?
You need to develop a support system
First of all, I want to start off with the standard stuff about the perils of suicidal ideation and to encourage you to seek out help, even if that help is calling ...
- 764
4
votes
19 yr old son with a prosthetic left foot
Talk to a mental health specialist.
Random people online aren't qualified to provide mental health counselling. Your son needs to see a proper mental health specialist to get the treatment he needs ...
- 923
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible