Teens Affected By Divorce

A divorce is a bitter experience, both for the person's getting it as well as their children. A teenager can find it quite difficult to accept the reality of their parents' divorce. It may also start having profound mental effects on the teens, which may ultimately affect their academic performance. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that the parents address the children well before they get a divorce. Teenagers usually become quite angry and withdrawn from both the parents following a divorce. Becoming depressed and disillusioned with the concept of marriage can also be seen. Under exceptional circumstances, teens can also become too well-behaved to cover-up their emotions.

Parents must try to confront their teenage son or daughter and talk about the situation with them. They must try to maintain the usual routine of the family as it was prior to the divorce, as this will not make them feel too isolated. Parents must avoid taking guidance from their children as this will place extra burden on them. Instead the parents can turn to close friends or relatives to share their story. Refrain from speaking ill about your husband or wife in front of the children and try to help them overcome this situation with the help of close friends and relatives.

Frustrated teens often opt for substance abuse in the face of their parent's dilemma of a divorce. Seeing parents part their ways can be quite difficult for a lot of teenagers, under which they go for abusing drugs as an outlet of their frustration. The affect on teens is greater than the effects on children younger than that or older than that. This exposes the risk of teenagers getting involved in unwanted activities. Becoming quite irritable and withdrawn from everyone can be the warning sign of them being involved in something shady.

Divorces are very painful for every member of the family. The parents not only need to cope up with their own dilemmas, but they also need to understand and help their teenage children through the eventual changes. The support of the extended family or good friends during such a time plays a pivotal role in helping the teen to become accustomed with these changes. If the parents believe that their children need additional help, they can always take the help of a counselor. Counselors are quite successful in treating any confusion, depression and a feeling of isolation which the teenagers may have.