Thursday, January 27, 2011
Deep Question for Wintergirls
As you read Wintergirls, it is apparent that Lia and her parents have a bit of a rift in their communication. Unfortunately, communication is lacking between many teens and their parents these days. Do you feel that a lack of communication between a teenager and his or her parents can contribute to mental illness in a teen? If so, how? Are there certain parental downfalls/traits that may negatively affect a child's mental health during his or her teen years?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I believe lack of communication can create an environment where problems get worse. It may not have been the cause of the mental illness but certainly is not going to help the child. Good communication could help everyone involved realize that there is a problem and hopefully lead to solutions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Doug. Only by communicating your problems to those who care about you can you solve them. Its the same for children as adults. By not communicating, teenagers may brood over problems and come to unhealthy conclusions in how to solve them, such as starving themselves to become skinny. Parental traits that negatively affect a child's mental health are being overly stern and closed (non-communicative). A child who is fearful of his or her parents due to being overly stern and who does not view his or her parents as being open to talking about problems will only keep problems to him or herself allowing them to worsen.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to certain parental downfalls/traits that may negatively affect a child's mental health during his or her teen years, I can come up with some. For parents to create and environment that optimizes the potential for their child to be mentally healthy, they need to make sure they are available for the child. This is difficult to do if parents themselves struggle with issues like addiction, relationship problems, their own mental health issues, are workaholics, perfectionists, etc.
ReplyDelete