Parenting the adolescent

The Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) will hold its second media forum that tackles one of the most challenging duties of parenthood — raising an adolescent.

Dubbed as “Parenting the Adolescent: The Common Problems and Challenges Teeners Face Today,” the forum will discuss what makes rearing an adolescent the most challenging part every parent has to face, and will identify common teenage problems and how to cope with them.

The forum will be held at Annabel’s Restaurant and will be led by Dr. Cynthia Leynes as key speaker.

A significant part of this forum will be the launch of Light One’s Life: A Patient Quality of Life Program (PQOL), an advocacy campaign initiated by Otsuka (Philippines) Pharmaceuticals Inc. and is supported by PPA.

The program aims to heighten awareness on mental health concerns and educate families on coping with serious mental conditions.

This advocacy campaign is equally important as ideal parenting involves attending to the personal mental health needs of both parents and their children.

Two out of 10 adolescents and their parents experience a tumultuous phase in their lives, according to Dr. Glenda Ilano, PPA’s public relations officer and chairman of the committee on advocacy, legislation and multimedia.

As parenting requires dynamism and responsiveness, the ability to shift parenting techniques is necessary for every parent. During the adolescent stage, different conflicts that arise between the parent and the young adult are normal signs of growing up.

However, responsible parents should be vigilant that some actions and behaviors an adolescent show may indicate trouble. Some of the most common problems encountered by parents with their adolescent are sibling rivalry, academic underachievement/overachievement, peer pressure, rejection and persecution, dating and pre-marital sex, lust, masturbation, pornography, homosexuality, indiscriminate use of alcohol and illegal drugs, smoking and gambling.

Likewise, overexposure to high technology such as television, video games, Internet and even texting are all part of parent-teenage relationship problems.

These common problems somehow affect the emotional and psychological state of an adult. Thus, parental guidance and supervision is required during this crucial phase in young adult’s life.

For more information on Otsuka’s Light One’s Life program and other related-mental health concerns, call Otsuka’s Helpline at 811-4723 in Metro Manila or at 1-800-1-888-4723 for people outside Metro Manila. The hotline is open Mondays to Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.