Is your teenager staring blankly, sighing, losing sight of sight, and showing no interest in school or favorite activities? It is possible that he is suffering from his first disappointment in love. Don’t panic, but don’t ignore the situation either. You can show him the way out of the deadlock.
The wounded teenager in his feelings for being in love is totally absorbed in his unhappiness. He lives it with violence and passion, which is normal at his age. For him, disappointment in love is a real drama: he has the impression that he has lost everything, that he will never love someone again, and that life no longer has meaning. Even if the episode makes you smile, perhaps with nostalgia, for your child it is really “the end of the world”. Don’t minimize his sadness!
The boys close themselves in, the girls go outside
Unlike boys, who try to hide their pain under an indifferent air, girls externalize it in different forms: they often cry, confess to their best friend or to their intimate diary, and write poems. Also, in girls, mental suffering can also manifest itself through physical reactions – stomach or headache pain, lack of appetite, etc.
For male teenagers, unhappiness can make them more aggressive: they fight with classmates, join dubious “gangs” or embark on serial love affairs, “collecting” conquest after conquest.
Understand his suffering
Don’t let your child get out of situations of this type on his own, but don’t nag him with your advice either. Show him that you understand his suffering and that you are by his side, ready to listen to him when he needs to express his emotions. Accept his anger, his tears, overlook his poor academic results, even his little naughtiness. Give him small “consoling” pleasures: prepare his favorite meals or desserts, let him invite his friends over or go to his best friend’s sleepover, and ask his siblings to entertain him with different activities, from dark thoughts.
If it lasts, it’s serious
Normally, the first heartbreak doesn’t last more than a month or two. First, the teenager denies the reality, then falls into a kind of “mourning” of his first failed romantic relationship.
Then, he starts groping again, looking for a future relationship. But when the depressive phase lasts too long, when the zest for life doesn’t return, it’s a sign that it’s time to call a specialist.
Read Also: Has your child become a teenager?
