Why are teenagers apathetic

Model for him the way to manage anxiety. Show him don't tell him what it looks like to deal with a lot of work, while taking care of yourself and functioning at a high level. Whether you realize it or not, your kid watches your every move. Your life speaks much louder to him than anxiety-laden words. Next, focus on resilience. In the course of the day, tell stories about things you experienced in school, things that relate to your child's difficulties. Reminisce about those struggles out loud when you're at the dinner table, walking the mall or in the car.

Make it a casual family conversation that pops up at any time and show your teen what it was like for you to be overwhelmed, to fail, to feel like giving up. Include the process you went through to pick yourself back up and try again. Demonstrate through your experiences what was hard and how you got yourself on track again.

Parents need to stop saying, "I don't understand what's going on because it's clear to me that you're really smart. It doesn't even hit on the real problem. Learn to break the pattern of lecturing as a parent. Your teen glazes over and doesn't hear it, but does feel misunderstood and unsupported. Try instead to listen, and be vulnerable enough to display your own weaknesses. How you overcame them in the short term or the long term.

These stories give him hope. Sometimes it's more important for your kid to fail and learn from it than it is for him to be pushed through by you. So when you see him struggle, stretch your memory and put yourself in his shoes. Show him you do know what it's like to struggle, and sometimes even fail.

This is an ongoing conversation The effect is more significant than you can imagine But seriously? Is it normal for a year-old to be mega concerned about their future, college plans, or what career path they should suit up for?

Be careful how you answer because this is where I got tripped up. At years-old, was any of this your main concern? If I take the behaviors my sons are currently exhibiting—which as a mom, I sometimes misconstrue as complete apathy —and compare them to how I felt at the same age, I have to admit there are quite a few similarities.

Do you remember being that age? Remember life as a teen? What did that look like? What was in your room? Who were your friends? What was school like? What did you do for fun?

What kind of music were you listening to? What sorts of things were you worried about? I remember getting to the age I just wanted to be in my room. I wanted to listen to music, play music and write. It had nothing to do with not wanting to be around my parents. It had everything to do with wanting to get further and deeper into my own things. Finding a way the teen will be more receptive instead of getting too heavy, deep, and real right off the bat.

Engage them with something they do care about. This can be hard. Which are things like school, their chores, and their future. Sure, he often joked that he wanted to be a professional gamer. But when he was able to get real, he knew and admitted that gaming was an escape. Step 4 could be hard to do if you think that League of Legends is causing the apathy. And while there may be some truth to that, seldom is something like a video game the one and only cause of apathy.

Consult and utilize the village. It always has and always will take a village to raise a teen. Ask them what they see. Share with them your concerns. Perhaps consider asking that adult or another adult to talk with your teen to get through to them be cautious using this method. Set screen limits. Screens are seldom the only cause of teen apathy, but they can contribute to it. Teens rarely feel truly refreshed after spending hours on gaming or watching Youtube and Netflix.

Most use it as an escape. Apathy -- indifference to and withdrawal from old interests -- may be rooted in a serious cause such as depression, or it may stem from a natural maturation process.

Engaging an apathetic teen starts with understanding the underlying cause. Helping teens discover their own motivation dispels apathy. Wholesale apathy in teenagers may signify the onset of clinical depression 1.

A teen who withdraws from every aspect of life may do so because of deep inner pain. Volatile physical and mental changes contribute to teens' greater risk of developing depression, as can circumstances that adolescents have not yet developed tools to handle.

An adult has developed coping mechanisms for rejection, disappointment and conflict, but teens may be encountering some of these unavoidable events for the first time. Seek advice from a counselor or psychologist if a teen who was previously involved suddenly withdraws and appears apathetic.

Apathy may mask a more serious problem. Brain growth continues throughout adolescence and does not end until much later than once thought, according to a report published in the "Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. With these rapid changes occurring in the brain may come equally rapidly shifting interests and personality development. A teen undergoing these shifts may not be apathetic to everything, but might have different interests from month to month.