What to Do When Your Teen Is Struggling Mentally

This week's Wednesday Q&A is a little different, I'm running it solo since my usual co-host Joe couldn't make it, and honestly, it turned into one of the harder, more important conversations we've had. A man in our Alliance named Rich called in with a genuinely difficult situation: his 17-year-old stepdaughter recently went through a breakup, was hospitalized shortly after making statements about wanting to end her life, and Rich is trying to figure out how to support her while also being honest that he's not sure whether what he's seeing is a real crisis or a manipulation tactic she's learned to use.

I want to be upfront that I am not a licensed therapist, and neither is anyone else on this call. We have someone in our community who specializes in this exact area, and when a situation is acute, that's who we point men toward. What I can offer is real, lived experience, because one of my own boys went through a genuinely frightening season with depression and anxiety years ago, and I've been in the position of feeling completely out of my depth as a father.

If you're a father watching a child struggle right now and feeling like you have no idea what you're doing, or you're not even sure if what you're seeing is a real crisis, this conversation won't give you all the answers, because there often aren't easy ones. But it might help you feel less alone in it.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] Opening the Wednesday Q&A solo, and introducing today's difficult topic

[1:48] Introducing Rich, a leader in the Alliance's teen-parenting group, and his situation

[3:13] Rich shares that his 17-year-old bonus daughter has recently expressed suicidal thoughts

[4:33] Understanding the timeline: a difficult personal season followed by a breakup two weeks ago

[5:43] Larry announces Roommates to Soulmates cohort three, starting September 16th

[7:25] Larry's disclaimer: not a licensed therapist, and where the community sends acute cases

[8:37] Asking Rich what he'd want to see in his stepdaughter's life a few months from now

[9:49] The tension between wanting to support her and wanting to hold her accountable to her own goals