How Do I Tell My Parents I Need Mental Health Help?

I can only imagine how hard it is for a child/teenager to tell their parents about mental illness. I suffered throughout my 20's and didn't get diagnosed until 32 years old. I suffered because I was afraid. Afraid of what people would think and afraid of reality. But it was the best thing I did, it was like having a weight lifted.
Michele

Thanks for sharing this. I've been struggling with what I suspect is a mental a health problem for over a year now without telling my parents because I had no idea how to talk to them about it or how they'd react.
I'm finally going to try now though. Hopefully I can find a way to get help now because it's been torture up until now.

I'm pretty sure I'm bipolar. I heard my stepmom talk about it when I was younger and I looked on the internet and I have a lot of the symptoms. My parents and I don't get along and if I try to tell them they would say I am being over dramatic. It has become too much and I can't handle it any more. I don't know what to do now.

what about totally unsupportive parents? the ones that feel like they're being insulted by the idea their kid might need help, or one that laughs it off?
How does one get help when their parents are part of the problem?

Hi Jacob,
I actually think this is pretty common. I would recommend going to a school counsellor and/or your family doctor and working from there.
It's unfortunate you don't have family support, but that doesn't mean you can't get help. Also keep in mind that some helplines are specifically for youth and they can help too.
- Natasha Tracy

um iv been wanting to tell my parents i think im bipolar for a while and i think i have a slight case of multipule personality disorder but i dont know what to tell them iv brought it up before in the past but they though i was beging over dramatic and for a while my situation has become out of hand and i dont know what to do can u help me?

I have tried talking to my parents and they have just brushed it off and made me feel worse, but then they get annoyed at me when my mood changes suddenly and I don't know want to participate with anyone. Then recently my school councillor said that the best thing is to tell them and they'll understand. So she said she is going to try and talk my mum into take me to at least a GP so they can see what they think but I'm worried she is going to react badly.

Hi Rene and Bronwyn,
Please take a look at this new article I wrote about when parents don't react well to the possibility of a mental illness in their kids:
http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2013/05/parents-react-badly-mental-illn…
- Natasha

hey i've been depressed for a while and i've taken a couple of online test that say i'm probably schizophrenic im kind of terrified of telling my parents cause they have never understood me well and i was wondering if there was a way around telling the.

I'm 43 years old and just finally found within me acceptance of being "bipolar". And praise God for my new journey that I started three weeks ago that make seeing the sun shine through the drapes in morning a true blessing... The new medication I'm on is what I attribute my beginning stages of healing something I look forward to...

Okay, so I think I'm suffering from depression and anxiety. I don't know bc I haven't seen my doctor or a counselor. When I have panic attacks, my mom gets upset at me and won't let me go away alone like I need to. Because of this, I'm super scared she'll react similar to this news. Plus, I have a friend who suffered depression and was cutting, and she told me that I shouldn't be friends with someone who can't even love themselves. I knew that was extremely wrong. But now that I'm going through similar things as that friend, I'm scared to how she'll react.
Now you have to understand, my mom is super supportive, but this is a lot different then getting a bad grade or having a fight with a friend. I'm only 13, so I can't arrange an appt with a doctor first... What/how should I handle this?? I'm terrified. No one else knows except me.

Thanks for this article. I'm going to try it... But I'm still kinda nervous. I have no idea how they will react. I'm probably gonna take it really slow.

I am pretty convinced I have a problem. I went to a doctor once when I was caught self harming on my thighs by my mother and I was given Prozac. It was only 20mlg and I didn't feel better at all, so my mom didn't make me take them. I reverted back to self harm after a few months and I got WAY worse. I attempted suicide on my 11th birthday by taking 5 sleeping pills but failed. Nobody knew I tried it until my mom found out but she did nothing but get mad at me for 'punishing' her. I started cutting worse than before and I now have deep scars. Whenever I get in a fight with my mom or anyone, or I feel out of control I feel like I'm hyperventilating and the urge to self harm is indescribable. And my parents just keep prodding at a already bleeding wound by yelling. I'm TERRIFIED of talking to them about anything because they never take anything well. It always ends in them yelling at me and saying that I'm doing this to myself to punish them for parenting and that I'm using my cutting as a threat to them. I do not know how to talk to them. I'm almost positive I have depression and possibly an anxiety disorder. Help.

I think I have bipolar disorder and anxiety I have most of the symptoms of anxiety and a lot of the symptoms of bipolar disorder I'm only 14 and get home schooled and got no clue how to start the conversation.

I'm very sure I have anxiety/panic disorders because I have asked multiple of people in my school but none of them understand what i mean and I think i also have depersonalization disorder and it makes me really uncomfortable. Every time I'm about to tell my parents I break into an anxiety or panic attack and I back out last minute, no one I know of understands me and I'm frustrated because they'll think I'm being dramatic.

I'm a self-diagnosed fifteen year old bipolar female. I suffer from constant moodswings, riskiness, mild depression, and insomnia. I also happen to be an introvert and telling my I might need medical help scares me. My dad would most likely tell me to just deal with it and I'm afraid of what my mother would say. How am I suppose to tell them?

I'm 12 and suffering from bipolar, social anxiety, schexniea (how ever you spell it), paranoia and depression
Imma tell my single mom to make a doctors appointment

I am almost positive I have a phobia of needles, PTSD and maybe panic disorder... My mom has depression and I don't want to tell her that I want to see a doctor because it might upset her... I have done a lot of research about anxiety and I match all of the symptoms for the said disorders. My little brother died when he was 3, I was 7, and every time I go to the doctor and I have to get a shot I have a panic attack and I get flashbacks from when he was in the hospital. Also, I feel like I get overwhelmed easily and if someone at school is rude or mean to me I go to the bathroom and have a panic attack and cry. I don't want anyone to find out and I'm really embarrassed. I don't know what to do

By the way I have panic attacks not only when I feel threatened but in other situations also, and I tend to have suicidal thoughts but never go through with them. I want this feeling to stop but I don't know how to start the conversation without upsetting my mom.

I think i have selective mutism. I mentioned it to my mom but she said it was all in my head and laughed. It has now been a whole year and i can't take it anymore i SERIOUSLY think there is something wrong with me and I'm too scared to mention it again because I'm super awkward and don't usually talk about my feelings. :(

My parents scolded me soon bad. They don't believe me. Anyone does.
I am pretty upset

I'm a 14 year old female and I started self harming about 2 months ago, I think I have some sort of anxiety diorder and possibly depression, I wrote my mum a letter as I don't have the confidence to speak to her but when I was about to give it to her I froze then had a panic attack so I, going to try again but I'm so worried she's going to react badly, if she does what do I do, it might push me to further depression and I have a fear that my self harm will get worse.

I believe to have a mental illness from a few years now. Since I was only 11 years old, I had a feeling like something wasn't right. I have symptoms - symptoms that are part of my daily life, and that make it unbearable for me to socialise or work. I am a teenager now, and I have no idea how to ask my mum to get me an appointment. My whole family laughs at mental illnesses. In addition, my brother has problems with alcohol, drugs, and he is old, yet unemployed. My relatives have A LOT to worry about, without me adding to the problems. However, I am afraid that the more I wait, the worse it'll get. I don't want to be a pain, though. How could I tell my family? The embarrassment and shame is very strong from my side.

I have tried talking to my mom and she says she will get me help but that was last month and I took one of those online test and it says im suffering from depression and anxiety disorder . so all I can do is try to stay positive :/

I've been feeling depressed since the beginning of the year (2015) and recently lost a lot of confidence and i think it might be anxiety. Whenever i talk to my mother about it she tells me it's just hormones and that she was like it in her teens too. However i don't know if it is and i'm scared to genuinely ask her to take me to the doctors because she'll just brush it off, and in general i'm not very good at talking to doctors, or adults of any kind so i don't know what would happen if i did go see someone. I've never been a quiet person but lately i just seem anxious and I don't want to talk to anyone. There was a point where i had suicidal thoughts a few weeks ago as-well, but i'm scared to tell my mum in-case it worries her or makes her blame herself. My friend pushed me off a main road as i walked in-front of a car. I just don't know what to do.

Asking for help isn't exactly my thing, but I've been putting this off for years and I think I could benefit from some advice. I am a college student, I recently turned 18, and on my 18th birthday I had the displeasure of meeting my biological mother who, up to this point, has not been present in my life for 16 years. For all of my life, I've been living with my father and my grandparents. I made my first attempt at suicide when I was 7. I started self-harming when I was 9. When I was 12 I went through a major depressive episode that lasted for 1 year and about 8 months coupled with bulimia. Around the age of 14 my self-harming got very bad, I dissociated from reality, and for the first time ever my family noticed and decided it was best that I see a counselor, which I did for about half a year until I told him I was in a better place because 1) my dad kept complaining about how much money he was spending and 2) my family didn't want to believe that I needed further treatment (medication, therapy, etc.). I recall him telling me that I needed medication for my depression and anxiety, but that he wasn't sure whether I was bipolar or not so he was going to refer me to a therapist and they'd see how antidepressants would affect me. Anyways, I stopped seeing him and my depression returned. From June to October of 2014, my depression became the worst it had ever been before. I was hearing voices, I was having vivid hallucinations, I strongly believed that the only way I could ever be free from my pain was to kill myself so I'd slit my wrist, overdose on pills. I'd cut until I fainted from blood loss then wake up the next day with headaches and bloodstained sheets and floors. It was a nightmare within reality. At one point, I was sitting on my bed preparing for school one october morning, thinking to myself "Tomorrow, I'' take all the pills, I'll go to school, and I'll die there". Lo and behold, the next morning I woke up feeling the greatest I had ever felt in my entire life. The entire world seemed brighter, louder. Just this amazing thing and I was so curious, I wanted to explore. It felt like the universe had opened itself up to me revealing all that it had in store. This feeling lasted for exactly a week, crashing down directly after snapping at a friend. I have had quite a few episodes like this since, increasing in severity and longevity. I can remember being sick with a fever one night, but feeling so high that I couldn't feel it. Laughing for 3 hours straight despite having a sore throat, not sleeping for 4 days (or a week). I can distinctly remember walking to class one day, although it felt more like I was floating. Like I had ascended to some god-level status, then in the same day I got very paranoid because I honestly thought the government was coming to get me, so I had to get on a plane to Thailand, all of which I wrote in a journal (very illegibly) and when a friend drew a dick pic in the same journal I started screaming, etc.. However my longest (what I perceive to be) manic episode so far lasted a month and was over the summer following (yet another) severe psychotic depressive episode. I was very reckless in that one (or so I've been told), having sex with a guy I met on Facebook only 3 days prior, smoking in the basement of my religious grandmother's house, etc. But I also have episodes (though not as frequent) where I'm very depressed and extremely agitated yet loaded with energy, which have included me trashing my room, snapping at close friends (told my best friend I hated her but had no recollection whatsoever), and other things. I, as well as many of my friends, believe that I may be suffering from bipolar disorder. I have friends with the illness, and my mother has it really bad as well....I'm not asking for help, I'd just like to know, with all that's been going on recently and my moods continually shifting from extreme highs to lows on a daily basis, is there any point? Is there any point in continually trying to show my family that something really is wrong somewhere? Because they seem to be completely oblivious, blaming my behavior on laziness, poor sleeping habits, and lack of concern......I'd just like to know if there's any point in anything, because I can feel myself progressively getting worse and I think I'm starting to lose the ability to be honest with myself and everyday I stray further from what my family and myself have perceived me to be.

I'm almost 13 and have been struggling with depression and bipolar disorder for years. Over the holidays I had a break from seeing my psychologist and things got bad, REALLY BAD. I would cry and cry to my dad on the phone every night (my parents are separated). One day, after almost a week of building courage, I told them I needed to be hospitalized. They didn't believe me and kept saying it would "be OKay" I had to go to the emergency room once before after a suicide attempt and I don't know any other way to let them know I'm serious. How do I convince them in not okay and really need the support of a hospital? I am so close to taking all the pills in our medicine cabinet just because I cant get away from life, I don't know what to do. I can wait until things just "get better"

I have read some of the other comments and my problem Isn't nearly as bad as some of the others, but it feels good just to be saying this:
My parents both think of me as their perfect little daughter because my older sister is depressed and my parents won't take her to get help because they don't want to believe its real and my youngest sister has ADHD pretty bad. And I am possitive that there is something wrong with my Dad and I don't want to cause more problems because I feel like there is something wrong with ME. I can't talk to my parents because my older sister can't even get help and my school councelor is wacko and I just can't take the stress anymore. I have thought about self harm multiple times but haven't done anything yet. I need help and I don't know what to do!!!!!

Someone, I really need help! Well, I am 11 years old but I apparently act older. Tumblr, phan, and emo music obsessed. I think I have depression and/ or anxiety. I don't want any attention, I just need help. I cry a lot, and when I don't, I just feel empty. I'm terrified of people not liking me. I'm terrified of rejection. I hate it when a lot of people are near. I have taken many, many depression/ anxiety tests online, and they have all come out saying I have it, bad. But I just can't trust the internet, not even the nhs website. I really want to tell my parents, and ask to get tested by a doctor. I just think they wont understand, they'll say I'm just going through a sad phase. I go to ask one of them, and get too scared and don't wanna do it. I don't think I can ever pluck up the courage, and they just wont let me go anyway. I don't know what to do. Help... please.

Wutsername_ Hello, I saw your comment and it piqued my interest because I am 13 but I suffer from exactly the same things. You're comment sounded like it could've come from me or my friends. There is one slight thing though, I used to cut and suffer from ANA. And recently, my sister had one panic attack and went to get tested. I've had multiple panic attacks recently and nothing has happened. Granted, I don't even think they notice because I mainly have them at school or in the shower. But I don't see why after one panic attack, my sister gets tested, but even after my parents find out about my cutting and starving, I only see my school counselor twice and we just talk about a counselor. There were no mentions of getting tested for anything. I've stopped cutting and I don't think I can bring myself back to the point I was instantly, but I've been considering it. I've even been considering a planned and failed suicide attempt to cry for help. Only because I can't bring myself to talk to them. I suffer from self diagnosed manic depression and an anxiety disorder.

I really really need to ask my parents to help me get psychological help. I want to ask them about it, but I don't want to tell them the reason why I need it in fear that it will scare them and that they will send me to the nut house..... I don't know what to do. I've tried talking to a couple friends about it, but they have become scared of me too now. I need help before this whole things tightens its grip on me forever. Please give me some suggestions on what to do.

I read almost every single comment here and i honestly feel bad writing this comment because it seems everyone has it harder than me but I think it may make me feel better to say this. I am a 13 turning 14 year old and I think that i have anxiety disorder leading into Ocd and depression. I can't exactly describe how i feel but if i were to i'd say that i feel "lifeless" I feel detached from everyone and everything. I tried to tell my my about this and ask them to let me see a therapist or someone who could help but whenever I get close to my mom (not my dad because my parents are separated) I would always freeze up then run away before I could say anything. Just to give you some information as to why I think i have these disorders... I constantly get these hot/cold flashes, I have a racing heart almost all day, i start trembling for no reason, my mind is constantly running at a high pace, and way more. I would rather die that present in front of anyone. I have self harmed but only once and thought about self harming but I haven't yet. As someone else said before but my parents think that I am a perfect little boy who can't possibly be more normal but they are way wrong. It's getting harder and harder to get through each day and it feels like the days are passing bye without me even being there. I feel empty. It took me 2 week of convincing to even say this online. I have taken many online quizzes almost every day and they all say its depresssion/anxiety/ocd or both. Sorry for the long rant.

my mom said that she thinks i might me schizophrenic. she then accused me of being over dramatic and that i think i'm special. i don't know what she want's from me. if i tell her the truth she'll be upset with me, and if i keep my problems hidden she acts like she's worried. i don't know what to do. she offered me a counselor once, and when i asked about it she used the money guilt trip thing. i don't know what she wants from me.

I think I might have depression but I feel like if I go to a doctor theyre just going to say I'm just sad. I feel empty and am always frustrated with my parents and now my friends. I'm tired all the time no matter how much sleep I get and I never want to do anything or go anywhere but I feel so alone. I sometimes wish I was never born and I don't see the purpose of life and have had many thoughts about harming and suicide but have never acted upon them and I don't think I ever will but I'm afraid that will change one day. I'm too afraid and angry to talk with my parents or anybody but I want to feel normal again but is this really depression?

I think I may be bipolar but I don't know how to tell my parents. One of my closest friends is telling me that I quite possibly may have the disorder but I don't know what to do. I've been doing research and I have a lot of the symptoms. He's told me that it may be a multi-personality bipolar disorder, because I know what I'm saying but I don't mean what I'm saying or why. I get irritable when things don't go my way which causes me to hurt the others I care for. I always feel like I'm doing something wrong in utter guilt, under the circumstances that I do something I may think was wrong. If something bad happens there's loads of guilt even when it's not my fault. I have mood swings, sadness, anger, anxiety, apathy, apprehension, euphoria, guilt, hopelessness... The list feels like it goes on forever. I don't know what I'm supposed to do or how I'm supposed to go about it.

Hi I'm 14 I think I have depression and /or anxiety and I don't know how to get helf my dad doesn't care how us kids feel and if he does something for us kids its because my mom told him to.my mom wouldn't believe me if I said I wanted to get help for something she thinks is all in my head. I can't ask my friends because most of them are going though stuff. I can't talk to anyone else or help line because I freak out that I'm going to mess up and say something wrong. I need help I have thought of suicide but I wouldn't be able to kill myself because I don't know how and the ways I know I could mess up and just be I a lot of pain .

I think I might be bipolar because I've shown a lot of signs received positive on every online test I've took and can relate to people on YouTube but I just don't know how to tell my parents that I think I need help. They think I'm innocent and I don't curse or anything and I'm not like that, I was wondering if anyone knows a solution and could give some tips for telling them , they would probably think I'm overreacting and I'm scared what would happen with my life if I told them, please help!

I tried to tell my dad that i tought i had anxiety this morning. He didnt believe me and called me stupid. This wasnt the first time I've told him either. I told my brother but he just srugged and said what can i do. Lifes been hard since i lost my mum 3 years ago, but my nerves are shot with worry which is only making life worse. Im afraid to tell my sisters as they have their own familys and i dont want to worry them by asking for their help. I went to the school counsellor after mum died and i quiet honestly dont know if shes even qualified so i dont feel comfortable talking to her about this. My doctors not much better
I just feel so hopeless.....

I've been having problems all my life, thinking that theirs something mentally wrong with me because I think I have schizophrenia. When I was 10 I tried to tell my mom that I kept seeing things everywhere I went and the things would sometimes take the form of my siblings and only once they had left would I realize they looked nothing like them but she brushed it off and said it was only a faze, that for a small amount of time my siblings seen things too when they where 10. I'm now 14 and this is still continuing, what I never told my mom was that I have been seeing these things since I was 5. I'm afraid to tell her what's going on because I think she'll just brush it off again and these things are really scaring me now. I don't know what to do.