I think my friend's daughter (who is 16 and also my daughter's friend) is malingering and that her mother is (unwittingly) enabling her. Then I feel very for being so horrible, but I can't help thinking that to support her the parents (and friends) need to push her to be more active and to help herself rather than to sink into this illness identity thing where she lies around all day being depressed until something nice happens to cheer her up.
I know there is a sort of atypical depression where your mood can and does respond to pleasurable external events in such a way as to appear to switch the depression on and off, but it's a bit marked in this case. I'm sure she does have periods of low mood but I think they've over-pathologised it and by encouraging her to see herself as ill, drop out of school and so on, are not equipping her with the tools she'll need to help herself through life. I think she just wasn't prepared for the amount of work needed for VIth form and this is a convenient way out.
Why am I being such a bitch though?
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Teenagers
teen mental health - am I being horrible?
31 replies
mysterymoniker · 14/01/2009 09:55
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