Transgender Teen Survival Guide

Asked by Anonymous

mentalillnessmouse:

Hey anon, 
Thats a great question. I suggest you sit them down and explain to them the symptoms you are experiencing, how they are impacting your life, and a specific plan of how they can help you. 

One way you can ask them to help you is to take you to your GP to discuss your symptoms. If they try to dismiss or minimize what you are experiencing, ask them to just consider going to the dr with you to discuss it. That way they don’t have to make a ‘big deal’ out of it, and you can hopefully get closer to getting some help. When you meet with your dr, you can explain to them privately that your parents are dismissive of your issues and that you would like their help in explaining mental health concerns and the benefit of therapy to them. 
You can also consider showing your parents resources about the things you are struggling with so that they can understand it more and see that it is a serious issue. There are lots of videos and websites targeted for parents, so definitely google search for and utilize those. And in order to help you plan for your discussion, check out our resources on telling someone: 

How to tell someone about your mental health & interactions with others

• This post on telling someone about your mental health problem has some great tips and advice.
• This is a post with links to various module you can complete to help you assert yourself.
• Here is a online self help book that has some self help tips and information on social skills training.
• Talk about Mental Health
• How to start your conversation
• How to tell the people you love
• Video for Parents By Teens Explaining Depression
• Helping Your Family Understand MDD

Take care,
Ari

Lee says:

• An example script of how the conversation telling your parents could go is here.
  
• Telling your parents about an eating disorder is here.
• Info on getting a therapist is here.
  

Crisis:

• Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Resources
• This is a post about how to tell someone you’re suicidal
• What to expect with hospitalization