Ep. 30: Adolescent mental health issues with Dr Adelita Segovia

In this show you will hear a useful discussion for parents regarding the issue of adolescents and mental health, which I hope will help parents get this stage of their child's life in a healthy, happy way. My guest for this discussion is Dr. Adelita Segovia, a board-certified psychiatrist at the Clayton Behavioral Center in St. Louis. Dr. Segovia focuses her practice on issues having to do with adolescent mental health and is an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Washington University.

 

Our conversation starts with the biggest risks parents often have to deal with regarding a teenager's mental health. Dr. Segovia talks about several studies that have been done in recent years that analyze the biggest risks, including depression and a number of other troubling statistics that make consideration of a child's mental health a very important factor in their lives.

 

You will hear the most important signs of depression and other mental problems and how they differ from standard adolescent emotional problems and adult emotional problems. She explains why parents should be attuned to a teenager's behavior, so that they can recognize the behavioral changes that serve as signs of a potential problem.The next portion of the show turns to treatment. 

 

Communication with teenagers is often very difficult, and Dr. Segovia will give you some great strategies for bridging that communication gap.  Understanding teenagers involves a lot of listening and less reacting.  There is a reason why teenagers act the way they do and you have to engage with them to a greater degree, and Dr. Segovia explains how to do that. 

 

The show concludes with a discussion of how parents can know they need to get professional help for their teen and how to go about doing that. There are specific steps to take and you should take them in order.

 

 To read more about this episode or check out other guests and topics, visit surivivinghealthcarepodcast.com