You know your teen or adolescent best. That’s why it’s essential to trust your instincts when you feel something is “off” with your child or if they seem to struggle emotionally. You may be tempted to shrug it off and chalk it up to “just being a teenager,” but make sure you don’t if you’re seeing signs your child could benefit from an adolescent and teen psychiatrist.
We get it. Deciphering exactly when your child should see a teen and child psychiatrist in San Diego can be tricky. Hormones, life transitions, and stress from school, friends, family, and social media can make teens and adolescents tough to understand at times. Especially in this day and age when they have so many complex things to face.
Recognizing when they could benefit from a teen psychiatrist is crucial. Early intervention is key.
Our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services
Why Should You Choose a Psychiatrist for Kids and Teens?
When it comes to choosing a mental health provider for your child, adolescent, or teen, you have options. Both psychologists and psychiatrists offer benefits, but getting help from a teen psychiatrist may be best.
Child and adolescent psychiatrists provide the most comprehensive treatment options for your child. Because they are mental health providers with a medical degree, trained in biology, chemistry, and psychology, they can not only provide different types of talk and play therapies, but they can also prescribe medications if needed.
It’s also important to note that a psychiatrist for teens, adolescents, and children specializes in providing a high level of care specifically for this age group. Their specialization and understanding of child and teen mental health issues allow them to deliver effective treatment suited especially for children and teenagers.
Psychiatric Care for Children: Addressing Common Misconceptions
8 Signs It’s Time to Seek Help from an Adolescent and Teen Psychiatrist
Adolescence is a tumultuous time for young people. The constant changes in their bodies, emotions, and circumstances can create a lot of turmoil for them. As a parent, it’s essential to balance helping your child through these challenging years and affording them the independence they want and need.
Here are several signs your child, adolescent, or teen could benefit from psychiatry for teens and children:
Decline in Academic Performance
One sign your child may be struggling with their mental health is when they don’t prioritize their academic performance. Several issues may affect their schoolwork, which could include anxiety and depression. A child psychiatrist in San Diego, or wherever you live, could help pinpoint the underlying mental health cause for their poor academic performance and prescribe appropriate treatment.
Excessive Anxiety
Between 2016 and 2019, anxiety disorders affected approximately 5.8 million children and adolescents aged 3-17 every year. In our post-pandemic world, those numbers have increased by an astounding 27%!
Many children, teens, and adolescents may feel restless and experience excessive worries and fears. And in many cases, teens may continue to feel stressed and nervous even when nothing significant is happening that would be cause for concern.
Teens and adolescents who struggle with anxiety may experience stomachaches, headaches, sweating, and trembling. These are sure-fire ways to tell if your child needs help from a psychiatrist for kids and teens.
Debunking Myths: Child Psychiatry in the Modern World
Issues With Anger Management
We all get angry from time to time. But if you experience your child or teen as becoming frequently aggressive, volatile, or destructive, a psychiatric evaluation by a professional can help determine why. If anger goes unresolved, it could lead to substance abuse, depression, self-destructive behavior, or even suicide attempts.
They’ve Experienced a Recent Trauma
If your child has experienced or witnessed a recent traumatic event, get them help from a teen and child psychiatrist as soon as possible. Even if they seem like they are “fine,” they may be dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other concerns.
Navigating Your Child’s First Psychiatric Appointment
Intense and Frequent Mood Swings
This one can be challenging since teens and adolescents tend to have frequent mood changes. However, if mood swings are dramatic and occur often, there may be an underlying mental health concern you should address as soon as possible. Psychiatry for teens and adolescents can get to the root of the issue and work through why mood changes are occurring.
Obsession With Their Weight
Social media can be damaging to teens’ confidence and self-esteem, especially when it comes to the way they look. Disordered eating and body dysmorphia could result in your child or teen if you don’t address their preoccupation with how much they eat, losing or gaining weight, or if they suddenly disappear after meals.
Substance Use
Unfortunately, many teens turn to drugs and alcohol as a means of self-medicating their mental health concerns. Of course, they are likely to hide their substance abuse from you, but if you notice changes in who your child hangs out with or if they seem secretive, they may be experimenting with drugs or alcohol.
A psychiatrist for kids and teens can address this issue, determine their reason, and teach them healthier coping strategies for dealing with their mental health concerns.
Suicidal Thoughts and Comments
No parent wants to think about their child having suicidal thoughts. But it’s important to take note of them and take action to get them into a child and teen psychiatrist. Even if it seems like they are joking about suicide, it’s never something to take lightly. Never ignore this sign of mental health concerns.
What Does a Psychiatrist for Teens and Adolescents Do?
Partner With BOLD Health for High-Quality Psychiatry for Teens and Children in San Diego
Whether your child asks for professional help or you’ve noticed signs that they may need psychiatry for teens and children, we’re here to help. At BOLD Health, our teen and child psychiatrists in San Diego provide experienced, comprehensive, and caring psychiatric care for children and teens aged five and up.
We take a personalized approach to caring for your child’s emotional well-being by taking the time to understand their needs, concerns, challenges, and goals. Our evidence-based treatments and person-centered approach mean we’ll create an ideal treatment plan to address your child’s unique needs for lasting change.
Whatever your teen or child struggles with, we’ll help them work through what’s troubling them so they can achieve the joyful and harmonious life they deserve. Contact us to learn more about our child and teen psychiatrist services so we can help your child feel better faster.