my mental health isn’t the best, my teachers have noticed but my parent haven’t? is this normal or are my parents being ignorant
Hi, this is a really important question – thanks for asking it!
It can be quite common for parents to not notice when their child is struggling with their mental health, especially if they're not showing any physical signs of it. It's also possible that your parents are just not sure how to approach the topic with you, or they might be dealing with their own things at the moment.
Whatever the reasons may be, it is very important that you do talk to them about how you're feeling – this can be scary, but once you've opened up they can be there to support you. If you aren't ready to do that, you could try speaking to a teacher or another trusted adult about what's going on, and they might be able to help you figure out how to talk to your parents about it.
Finally, it's hard to say what you're struggling with, but if these feelings are leaving you at risk of self harm or if you're feeling suicidal, please seek that help today by calling 999 or going to your nearest A&E department. Other useful numbers are Shout Crisis Text Line (text "SHOUT" to 85258), and Mind who are a mental health charity who can be called for free on 0300 123 3393 ❤️
If you are not having active suicidal thoughts or self harming but are concerned for your mental health, luna strongly advises getting help from a trusted adult and going to see a GP together. They will be able to support you and give more personalised advice for you.
Please take care 🙏
How we answered this question:
luna's team of experts comprises GPs, Dermatologists, Safeguarding Leads and Junior Doctors as well as Medical Students with specialised interests in paediatric care, mental health and gynaecology. Questions are answered and reviewed by this team.