Most teenagers start sleeping less and less or more and more as the time passes. Some teens have trouble falling asleep at night and sleep till late in the afternoon, in most cases that is normal, it is caused by overload, emotional issues, but in some cases we are talking about sleeping disorders. Even if it is not a sleeping disorder, sleep deprivation over a longer period of time can lead to sleep deficit.

Sleep deficit causes the body to learn a routine, a very unhealthy routine, it goes until you are too tired to think and you want to sleep but can’t. Your body is used to not sleeping and fails to go down. Sleep deficit causes plenty of unwanted effects like lack of concentration, weight loss, depression and many other things.

There is more to this than just the restless teen spirit, in fact our body starts to work differently about that age. One of the things that is different is the production of melatonin hormone, when we enter the teen years we start to produce melatonin late at night, and that is why we have trouble falling asleep. That settles down with adulthood for most of the people. So this is our first and basic reason why we have trouble sleeping in teen years, but from there on we can develop insomnia very easy, all you need to add to the combination is stress, maybe a headache or any other discomfort and you have yourself insomnia.

Well, this is not something to panic about, we all have insomnia every now and then, the question is how long it lasts. If it is a few days then it’s a normal thing and we shouldn’t sound the alarm, but if it persists over a longer period of time you need to consider it as chronic insomnia and you need to get your child to a treatment.

Nightmares are one of the causes of insomnia and sleeping disorders. Not just a night or two, nightmares are known to cause sleeping problems for a longer period of time and such cases are considered dangerous. The reason why they are dangerous is that they lead to mental instability and are caused in most cases by alcohols and drug abuse, stress, sleep deprivation.

A very common sleeping disorder is narcolepsy, which is when we fall asleep uncontrolled. This usually goes on for a few weeks until the body gets back to normal, but chronic narcolepsy can be very dangerous and such person needs to be supervised at all times. People that have chronic narcolepsy are forbidden to drive and do other similar activities as they never know when they are going to fall asleep and put theirs and other people’s lives in danger.

Sleeping disorders and sleep deprivation are very harmful for teens bodies, over a longer period of time sleeping disorders may cause brain damage, affect healing rates, attention, concentration, learning capabilities, weight loss and weight gain and diabetes and kidney failure. In some cases it causes delusions and mental instability, so these are all the reasons to take your teen child straight to the doctor’s office.

Most of the parents are always worried if their child is eating enough, if their child getting enough vitamin and minerals, does he eat too much or maybe even have an eating disorder, obesity, anorexia? Well, since obesity is a rising problem in the US parents should take care, and anorexia, bulimia and other well known eating disorders are on the rise and are now presented more than ever before.

The good thing is that parents finally started taking care of their children’s not so known problems and they are getting educated about eating disorders. But there is a problem, people are educated about anorexia and bulimia or binge eating by the media, but the same media fails to let parents know about other eating disorders with even tougher side effects and consequences. Let’s talk about some of the eating disorders that are spread around the globe in the same number as anorexia but are not so familiar to us.

Have you ever heard of people that have a need to eat everything they see and get their hands on? They would eat rubber, chalk, even wire and cigarette buds, this is an eating disorder and its called Pica. This is a mentally inherited eating disorder, but some people can develop it at early age without prior medical history in the family. It comes from low supervision by the parents; most kids will put anything in their mouth when they are not being watched.

A very serious type of eating disorder is Prader-Willi Syndrome. This is a birth defect, it is a brain development caused by damage or defect in the hypothalamus, the part that regulates our hunger and sensation of hunger. Prader-Willi Syndrome acts on that way that a person can never feel full; in fact it feels hunger all the time. Person with this eating disorder will not only eat normal food, they will also eat anything they can get their hands on, and in this case, it really is everything as there is also a certain mental problem in question.

There is also an eating disorder which is a total opposite of Anorexia, it is called Bigorexia. You can already guess what this is, this is a disorder where a person has the need to gain weight, most of the people that suffer from Bigorexia hang around gym’s, but in this case this is not just normal healthy workout. This is a very serious eating disorder which may cause hormonal imbalances; obesity, kidney failure and other sever medical issues. Most of the people with Bigorexia start using additives, weight gain product and steroids after a while.

There is a great number of eating disorders we don’t know much about, so if you have doubts that your teen child is developing one be sure to take him to a doctor. Don’t try to implement your knowledge and treat him at home as some of these eating disorders are very serious and should not be taken lightly.

Teenagers drink as much alcohol as adults, which is a fact. I don’t mean the quantity of alcohol drank, but the number, percentage of teenagers that drink is the same percentage for adults. Over 80% of teenagers have tried alcohol, but in the end drinking comes down to a simple choice, whether they want to drink or not is totally up to them, but once they are considered as adults. So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why teenagers drink, although my bet is you can guess the first reason.

The first and the most talked about reasons is that teenagers think it's cool, the same thing is with cigarettes and with drugs. But there are several reasons behind it, for instance, teenagers will be more likely to start drinking if they have parents who drink or if their friends drink. Parents need to give them a clear message and to educate them about drinking before they even think about drinking.

Alcohol is basically a drug that changes how we feel, the sensation that we feel at the lower levels of alcohol can be a very pleasant thing, which is what most of the people who drink look for, but unfortunately not all of us can stop when it is pleasant and we often take it overboard. That is even more common for teenagers, as they still don’t know their limits.

Alcohol is in fact a depressant for the central nervous system, so most people think they will chill out with a few drinks, but the few drinks often turn into much more, especially with teens, as they don’t know how much is enough. But there are plenty of other reasons why teenagers drink besides thinking its cool, another popular reason is curiosity. But that is why they start, or try alcohol in the first place.

Two more popular reasons are to fit in and to feel older. If you are thinking that it sounds stupid, it isn’t, well it is, but it’s not any more stupid than anything that we did in their age. I mean how many of us tried alcohol in our teen years? That is how teenagers are, and most of them will do just about anything to fit in, even do drugs.

It is needless to say that most of the reasons for drinking come from the family, as that can be well defined for adults it is not so easy for teenagers, as they are still experimenting and have no idea what they are getting themselves into. The only choice and option you have as a parent is to educate your child about alcohol and its effects before they try it. Maybe that will give them a better understanding of what they are missing.
 

In most cases when rape is mentioned people automatically think about some stranger jumping from the shadows and forcing them to have sex. While in fact more than 60% rape cases were committed by a familiar person, someone who knows the victim. Teen rape is at its highest, the number of teen rape victims has never been as high as it is now, and the biggest part of the rape cases falls under date rape.

Rape is an act of violence, many defend themselves by saying that they did it out of love or passion, that couldn’t be farther away from the truth, rape has nothing to do with love. The other notoriously famous statement from date rapists who claim they did it out of passion is that the person who got raped asked for it. They often describe the situation as they were being lured in, that the person who got raped led them on by wearing sexy or provocative clothes and the way they acted. Again, this couldn’t be farther away from the truth, there has never been an excuse for rape nor will there ever be one. The rapist is the one at fault, nothing said or done by the raped person can’t justify the rape.

That is one of the issue I am concerned about, teens dealing with the aftermath of rape. Teenagers are already in a fragile state of emotions as it is, rape can mess with their mind, feelings and some of the kids who experienced rape can never heal from it, especially the fact that someone they know raped them. In most cases with date rape people can’t deal with their emotions, they keep reliving the same thing over and over again, they become too afraid to get close to someone out of fear, eventually without help they will close in and self destruct from inside.

Date rape has that suicide effect on the victim, they can’t help but to feel responsible, to feel ashamed, like they did something wrong. The fear starts to reside in their hearts and if treatment and care aren’t provided from the start the consequences may be horrible, in some cases date rape victims even commit suicide. So how do you help your teen child or friend who was raped by a person he or she trusted?

There are three basic steps. First you have to make them believe that it wasn’t their fault, which is the most important thing. If they can’t go pass that point the situation may become critical. Letting go of the guilt and the feeling of responsibility is a must for date rape victims to move on. The second step is to seek medical care, both physical and mental. You need to make sure that you haven’t been infected by some sexually transmitted disease and at the same time therapy is necessary. The last part is to make them talk about their feelings, that is the only way to let go and move on.
 

If you have a troubled boy at home and don’t know what to do to help him there are a few options that you need to consider. One of the most popular options is sending your child to a specialty boarding school. Those schools are specialized in dealing with all sorts of teen issues and problems and have a success rate that is very reassuring. But if you don’t want to take that step yet there is a shorter alternative that just might do the trick, we are talking about wilderness programs for troubled teens.

There is something in the wilderness therapy programs that make a child turn for the best; maybe it’s just nature at work. But you need to be known that not all wilderness programs are for every child, the simple fact that not all of the wilderness programs are created equal should state that they only work with specific types of teens.

Well I said there is something in wilderness programs that helps a child; it’s not just “something”. Kids themselves have a tremendous capacity to see the truth in themselves, especially in a free environment, meaning no parents around. This is based upon self reflection in an environment free of all the distractions, computers, parents, friends, school, clothes, dates etc.

In wilderness programs it’s all about relearning the basics, controlling what can be controlled and letting go of things that cannot be controlled. A great thing is that wilderness programs represent and give challenges to these kids, which is what most kids need in order to find inspiration and motivation. And the best part is that they do it without pressure, so yes, the kids have a goal, a challenge they must complete, but they can do it on their own schedule, nobody is forcing them to do that in an hour. So they take responsibility for their actions.

Children that attend wilderness programs are seeing a therapist once or twice a week to discuss their progress and everything else that bothers them. Most of the children after just a few short weeks of hiking, sitting by the fire, achieving something on their own and talking with someone who listens come to a self discovery and they realize they have to change, they realize they have changed. They realize they don’t need to do drugs anymore, they don’t need to yell to express how they feel, they realize that they miss their friends and their family and that they are sorry for the things they’ve done.

Keep in mind that 6 to 8 weeks in wilderness may help most of the teens, but some troubled teenagers need more attention and special care than others. So talk to a professional and get your kid to an evaluation before making a decision. If your child is suited for a wilderness program that is one of the greatest experiences a kid can get, so don’t hold back to do it again even after your child get’s back on track.