Take Them For A Physical
Your teens primary doctor is someone who can help determine whether these symptoms are caused by a physical problem or a mental health issue, such as depression. There are some medical issues that can mimic depression. For example, a low-functioning thyroid can cause lethargy, weight gain, and trouble focusing in school. Chronic fatigue syndrome can cause sleeping too much, muscle aches, and headaches.
Your childs doctor will probably want to run some blood tests to check for vitamin deficiencies. Vitamin D deficiency can cause depression-like symptoms and is easily remedied with a vitamin D supplement. Particularly if you live in a northern state or if your teen does not spend much time outdoors , they might be at risk for a vitamin D deficiency.
How To Get Your Teen Out Of Bed On Time For School
Waking up early for school is difficult for most teens. And theres research that suggests they arent just being oppositionaltheir inability to wake up may be biologically based.
Teens need about nine hours of sleep for optimal performance and development. However, research has shown that most teens are actually getting less than seven hours of sleep each night. Other studies also show that most teens natural sleep patterns cause them to stay up late, until around 11 p.m., which makes it difficult for them to wake up early for school.
Despite teens natural sleep cycles, learning how to wake up in the morning and get out of bed on the days you dont feel like it is a life skill. Teach your teen how to do so now, so when they’re an adult, they can make it to work on time even on the days when they dont feel like it.
What Goes On In The Teen Years That May Trigger Anxiety Or Depression
Ginty Butler: Whether its gender identity or separating from parents and attaching to a peer group, the teen years are a time when kids are figuring out who they are. Fitting in can be a big source of stress for teens. Meanwhile, their bodies are changing and theyre becoming more aware of how they and their peers are affected by real-world issues such as climate change and racial injustice. It can be a lot for teens to deal with.
OBrien: Teens in this country are under a lot of pressure to excel socially, academically, and in numerous extracurricular activities. Many are also living with the stress of family conflict and financial uncertainty. If they dont have a way to take a break, stress escalates and makes it harder for them to enjoy the activities theyre involved in.
Read Also: Vitamins That Help With Depression
Give Them Something To Look Forward To
When it comes to no-war ways to get your teen out of bed for school, this little tip works wonders!
Maybe its the smell of sizzling bacon in the kitchen, pancakes hot off the griddle, an array of aromatic essential oils in the shower, a quick morning workout with friends or a brand new outfit theyre dying to wear, give them a reason to crank it up in the morning and get their day started. Figure out what your teen loves and what motivates them and use it to spark a get-up-and-go positive attitude so they can start their day with a little pep in their step.
Annoying Behavior Isnt Necessarily Depression
As parents of three teenagers, my husband and I find our house is filled with annoying behavior on an almost daily basis. This includes yelling, irritability, anger, and, yes, mood swings. It is often overwhelming. If one child tends to stir the pot more than the others, that may cause you to feel even more concerned. Keep in mind, though, that as long as your child is able to bounce back most days, then their annoying behaviors are probably normal.
If you suspect that your child is depressed, the good news is there are many resources available and depression is treatable. Start with your pediatrician or a mental health provider. If you want to find a mental health provider, a great place to begin your search is Psychology Today. Psychology Today is the leading site on which therapists list their services and you should be able to find many in your area.
Also Check: How To Deal With Anxiety And Depression While Pregnant
How To Get Your Teen Out Of Bed In The Morning
- 31 Aug, 2015
Why is it that kids will wake up bright and early at 6AM on Saturday, ready to watch their favorite TV show, but during the week, getting them out of bed and ready for school is like trying to get the Earth to change its rotation? That has been puzzling parents since Adam and Eve tried to get Cain and Abel out of bed!
Part of the problem is that teens and tweens need about nine hours of sleep each night and if they don’t go to bed early enough, chances are theyll wake up in the middle of a deep sleep phase, which can make them grumpy, groggy and grouchy. Pushing their bedtime back an hour can help, but if it doesnt, here are some additional ways to wake them up.
Use a wake up light
There are many different types of wake up lights available, but one that grows progressively brighter works best because it allows for a smooth transition from sleeping to waking. It also lets you choose different sounds, an alarm tone or your kid’s favorite music.
Her phone, her alarm clock
Every smart phone has an alarm clock feature that allows you to wake up to a selection of sounds or music. Utilizing this feature for your teen or tween can be a godsend.
Use the Clocky Alarm Clock
This mischievous little clock is on wheels. When the alarm goes off, it rolls off the table and travels around the room. So, it forces your teen to physically get out of bed to stop the noise. Parents often enjoy the entertainment value of watching their teen chase it around the room!
Let go
Better Ways To Get A Kid Out Of Bed In The Morning
1. Study and understand your kid
Work with the reality of your kids disposition and habits. Its not just their attitude its who they are. As mentioned, science shows that some kids really are night owls, and some are early birds. If you know your kid needs more time to wake up, build that into the family morning routine.
2. Are they getting enough sleep?
Kids need much more sleep than adults . Heres a helpful guide of how much sleep the entire family needs.
Do everything you can to get them to sleep earlier and to sleep sounder. Snoring siblings, too much light, going to bed too late, a non-restful sleep environment, over-exhaustion, screen time close to bed, diet, and exercise all affect a kids ability to sleep.
In severe cases of not getting up, your child may have a serious sleep issue, depression, deficiency or another issue such as SAD. In that case, its good to get them checked out. And, you may think your kid is getting enough sleep, but it might be low-quality sleep.
3. Start with an I love you! Good morning!
In the long run, starting the day with love and understanding sets everyone up for success.
4. Build in time for simmering
In my house, we call hanging out in bed in the morning simmering. I love to simmer in bed for a bit before I get up to think about the day ahead, or just letting my imagination roam. A few minutes of simmering is built into our family schedule.
5. Dont fuel the drama
6. Wake them by singing to them
10. Do a weekly donut run
Also Check: No Call No Show Depression
Parents Cannot Handle School Stress Alone
It is critical for parents to seek help early when their child is facing school stress. Its just not something a parent can handle alone.
What brings us out of the anxiety/depression spiral boils down to two things. One, reengaging the nervous system by moving up out of immobilization into mobilization and eventually to the social nervous system which is where we feel like ourselves.
And one way we start this process is by making the child attend school. At first, that feels pretty bad, because mobilization begins to remove the relief of being numbed out. Kids experience a certain amount of unpleasant anxiety as they reengage with life. There is no alternative, they must attend school. But not without support: Kids need a therapist who provides the social input they need to manage anxiety. And it also helps a lot if the school social worker or psychologist can meet with the student at school.
But eventually, the point is to bring that child back to an ideal state of nervous system regulation. They will still feel anxiety, but when school-avoidant kids learn to access their social nervous system in the ventral vagus nerve, they become able to deal with that anxiety flexibly.
In Most Cases Its Not Them Its Their Body
Remember when they were toddlers and they woke up at the crack of dawn raring to go? Well, that all changes when kids hit the teen years and their internal body clock starts to shift.
According to UCLA Health Sleep Center, teens circadian cycle changes the natural rhythm of the body that tells them when to wake up and fall asleep. Before puberty, hitting the sack at 8:oo or 9:oo p.m. might have been the norm. As soon as they hit puberty, they become night owls unable to fall asleep until 10:oo p.m., 11:oo p.m. or sometimes even midnight.
And, considering the fact that teens still need an average of nine hours of sleep at night, it makes perfect sense that when it comes time to wake up for school theyre totally exhausted and have to fight just to open their eyes.
To avoid the daily battle of sleepiness and help your teen get moving on those early mornings, here are a few no-war ways to get your teen out of bed for school.
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Also Check: Is Depression A Mental Disease
My Daughter Cant Get Out Of Bed
For people who live with bipolar disorder, depression and oversleeping go hand in hand. The cause and effect go in both directions. Depression often leads to sleeping more and to a delayed sleep pattern sleeping longer and later can cause or worsen depression. Fortunately, the downward cycle of depression and oversleeping can run in the opposite direction. Reducing hours of sleep and waking early in the morning can have a very strong antidepressant effect.
As you point out, sleeping less and waking earlier is easier said than done. It is important to realize that oversleeping is not just laziness. Depression creates a strong pressure to sleep more and sleep later. But there are a few specific things that can help.
Setting a regular waking time is the most important step. People who are struggling with a delayed sleep pattern often feel, I could wake up earlier if only I could get to sleep earlier. But we know that biology actually goes in the other direction: I could get to sleep earlier if only I could get up earlier.
When people spend many hours in bed, their sleep is often interruptedwith short periods of sleep and lots of time lying in bed awake. That type of sleep is not at all restful. Its natural to think, I need to spend more time in bed to feel rested. Once again, the biology of sleep goes in the other direction: spending fewer hours in bed will lead to less interruptedand more restfulsleep.
About the Doc
About the Doc
How Much Sleep And When
According to many sources, including the National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, teens should be getting eight to 10 hours of sleep a night. But fewer than one-fourth of high school students are meeting even the minimum, according to the results of the most recent national Youth Risk Behavior survey, conducted every two years by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From a mental health standpoint, aiming for more than just the minimum eight hours can be most helpful, experts have found. In one study, teens who got 8¾ to nine hours of sleep per night had the lowest levels of mental health issues, including moodiness, feelings of worthlessness, anxiety and depression.
In a recently published study examining college students sleep and mood, Tim Bono, a lecturer in psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, found that the students who got the most weeknight sleep on a regular basis also posted the biggest increases in happiness and well-being over the course of the semester. This was true even for students who had lower baseline happiness levels at the start of the study.
Students with the most erratic sleep schedules were unhappy nearly twice as often, the study found. Key best practices for sleep, including consistency, seem to significantly the trajectory of students psychological health, Bono says.
Also Check: How Many Depressed In Us
Get Creative With Their Alarm Clock
When trying to lure a sleepy teenager out of bed, sometimes the best defense is a great offense. In other words, you have to pull out all the stops. Start by getting an alarm clock theyll respond to.
Whether its waking up to rap or pop music, the relaxing sound of waves, a full-blown sonic boom, or a simulation of the morning sunrise, chances are theres an alarm clock thats sure to get your kid on their feet and out the door for school. Also, consider making it a challenge to hit the snooze button by putting the alarm clock across the room so they have to get up to turn it off.
Try An Alarm And Keep It Away
Often times, one of the easiest things to do when depressed in the morning and when you have no will to get on with the day, the best way to change that for good is by setting an alarm.
And before you revolt saying that it is the same old thing which you have tried but hasnt worked out, have you ever tried to set an alarm and keep it out of your reach? That is where the trick is. If you are suffering from morning depression stuck in bed, the best way to get over the problem is by setting an alarm and keeping it away from your reach.
When you keep it away from your reach, it becomes mandatory for you to walk over to the place where you have kept the alarm to finally switch it off. And once you get up from the bed, it becomes quite easier for you to overcome the unwillingness to get up and get along with what the day has in store for you.
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Find A Reason To Get Out Of Bed
If routines you enjoy can help motivate you, finding a fun or exciting reason to get out of bed in the morning might help even more. Maybe its a special breakfast or treating yourself to a fancy cup of coffee on the way into the office.
Giving yourself a reason to get up is always a good motivator. Positive reinforcement can be a great influencer and help you break the hold that I cant get out of bed depression has on you.
Help Your Teen Identify Their Feelings
OBrien works with kids of all ages to help them identify their feelings and figure what they need to do to feel better. Parents can do this too.
OBrien: If your child is feeling anxious, what do they need to do to feel calm? If theyre sad, what do they need to do to feel happy? The path to feeling calmer or happier may involve doing a puzzle to feel calm or watching a funny video to lighten a dark mood. It depends on the teen.
Recommended Reading: Ways To Help Someone With Depression
If You Suspect Your Teen Is Depressed
Depression is such a persuasive beast, and it can convince anyone its holding onto that nothing will make a difference. This hopelessness is a classic symptom of depression, and the very thing that gets in the way of healing from it. If you suspect your teen might have depression, the first step is getting a diagnosis so everyone knows what theyre dealing with. A doctor or mental health professional can help with this. Depression doesnt always need medication, but it might. Having the support of a loving adult will be important for any teen who is trying to find their way through depression. If that supportive and loving adult is you, here are some things you can do to help your teen strengthen and heal:
About Joan Munson Phd
Dr. Joan Simeo Munson earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver. She has worked with incarcerated individuals, families, adolescents, and college students in a variety of settings, including county and city jails, community mental health centers, university counseling centers, and hospitals. She also has a background in individual, group, and couples counseling. Dr. Munson lives in Colorado with her husband and three energetic children. She currently has a private practice in Boulder where she sees adults, couples and adolescents.
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Could A Heavy Sleeping Teen Have Depression
If a teenager wont wake up in the morning or lies around in bed all day, they might be struggling with depression. In some cases, a depressed teen may truly be oversleeping, known as hypersomnia. However, insomnia is a far more common symptom of depression than oversleeping. If a teen has insomnia due to depression, they may appear to be oversleeping as they try to catch up after a wakeful night. It can also be hard to find the motivation to get out of bed when youre depressed, even if youre not actually sleeping.
The relationship between sleep and depression goes both ways. Sleeping all day can be one of the symptoms of depression, or it can be a trigger for depression, particularly if a teen is already vulnerable. One reason is the importance of sleep for emotional regulation. A well-rested mind is better able to cope with life stressors in a healthy way. Moreover, if a teen spends the day sleeping instead of doing other thingslike physical activity, engaging with family and friends, or developing life skillsthat can be a risk factor for depression.
Even if a teen isnt suffering from clinical depression, they may be experiencing languishing. Rather than the full-blown hopelessness and despair of depression, languishing is a state of stagnation, emptiness, and lack of motivation. That can kill a teens desire to get out of bed even if theyve had plenty of sleep.