Teenagers
In general, teenagers live not an easy condition; and this becomes extremely difficult in our time of coronavirus.
Most contacts, which are of extreme importance in such life’s period, have been put apart: school, sport, moments of meeting and aggregation, and also the usual places where adolescents feel important as well as understood and safe, are closed.
If a teenager is particularly worried or disturbed, it will be advisable to take care of him/her, to make them talk to someone they trust and perhaps to implement appropriate strategies in order to face the problem. They must try to keep in touch with their friends and mates, via chat or video calls. They should also express their emotions through writing and painting or other means, according to their attitudes.
Parents, for their part, must adopt adequate and functional behaviors that are likely to have positive repercussions on their children. It is also important to try to share their emotions.
Of course, in case of dysfunctional behaviors such as insomnia, intense anxiety, or feelings of helplessness towards the outside world, they deserve to be assisted by a professional.
Domenico Rusciano is a psychologist, neuropathologist and general practitioner.
