In a recent interview with 1080 KRLD, Dr. Nicholas Westers, a pediatric psychologist at Children's Health and associate professor at UT Southwestern, shed light on an often-overlooked issue: the mental health challenges faced by adolescent boys.
According to Dr. Westers, many boys and men don't proactively look for treatment, even while suffering with mental health issues.
"A lot of boys and men don't seek out mental health treatment even though they do struggle at times," Dr. Westers said. "We know that symptoms can present differently for them than for girls."
For young boys, symptoms of depression may present differently.
"For boys, they may be more irritable, cranky, and it may manifest through anger and loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities," explained Dr. Westers.
This often leads to boys being missed by traditional screening measures that focus on symptoms more commonly expressed by girls.
Dr. Westers emphasizes the importance of recognizing the primary and secondary emotions in adolescents.
"It's not culturally accepted typically in their minds or we're not socialized as men or as boys growing up to be able to express that," he noted. This leads to boys externalizing their emotions through anger rather than showing their sadness or humiliation.
To help parents start conversations about mental health with their sons, Dr. Westers suggests a casual, nonjudgmental approach.
"Not necessarily a sit-down face-to-face conversation, which typically makes it awkward. If you’re in the car, on the way home from school, or a sporting event, you can just ask them about this in a nonchalant way."
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Perhaps the most striking piece of advice Dr. Westers provides is about the power of understanding and apology.
"If your child is just being really grumpy, don’t ground them. Understand them. And if you’ve made some mistakes as a parent and you’ve punished them for a mental health difficulty that they don’t have control over, apologize. That can go so far," he urged.
Children’s Health offers a wealth of resources for parents on a variety of mental health topics, including depression and anxiety.
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