What a fantastic article on a very important subject. Our young people are under so much stress today to fit in, be successful on their first attempt, and to live up to expectations set by others. As parents we have to recognize this and challenge our own beliefs and realities when dealing with issues affecting our children.

I believe that we are in a societal transition time right now where we are attempting to make sense of things as our former foundations for belief get confronted or even jettisoned, but the current ones have not been proven out, to be able to provide a means for offering a worldview that provides solace and inspiration. I meant his for all members of our societies today. Yes we live in a technological age filled with wonder and sense stimulation, but it lacks in spiritual fulfilment and true meaning. And as science has replaced spiritualty we focus less and less on what we have lost.

As humans, at the end of the day our primary questions remains: “Who are we and why are we here?” As we push away from these questions because we have been dissatisfied with the past answers delivered through religion and/or psychology and have accepted reluctantly that perhaps the questions have no answers, we put aside our reasons for being here and open up our worlds to issues that never have in the past but currently are beginning to erode our sense of humanity.

For a second, if we look at these adolescent issues in your article as issues related to insanity (I am talking about the behavior, not the person), then we would treat them differently. We treat them as things to be abhorred rather than coddled. I am not talking being insensitive here, in fact I am saying the opposite. In my opinion, our true test of sensitivity is how much respect we give to the person rather than the condition. By treating the latter with more respect than due, we cripple our ability to focus on the former or the person.

What does this have to do with my earlier comments? By pushing aside things like simple spirituality i.e. "We need to humble ourselves and to always focus on assisting those who are less fortunate than us because that person can always be us" we lose an ability to take a winning position to not just fighting but solving the issues confronting our young people and us. We do not have a perspective that that takes a superior position to the issue, only one that puts us on par with it. As a result, everything is a battle or a process.
When my daughter began therapy some years ago (she was 13 and teachers thought she was having issues because she was not communicating typically with her classmates. My wife was hysterical because my very bright daughter was perhaps … damaged. I listened to the school psychologist and related that when I was a child I was the same type of kid. I would sit on the playground during recess and read a book in the corner rather than interact with the kids. I loved books because they took me away.
I was not heard and instead overruled and my daughter ended up in therapy sessions twice a week. I would attend them with her once a week and sit while we talked with a very nice lady for an hour. I would drive my daughter home and ask her how she was feeling and she slowly became dependent on talking through her therapist. She eventually became very obese and I was pushed farther and farther away from her and told that I was insensitive to her needs. She still battles serious weight issues at age 23.
This is not an indictment of therapy by the way, it is sometimes wonderful. But it has become a catch-all and this is succeeding in again crippling us all.

In societies where there is no questioning simple spirituality, the issues in your article hardly if ever exist. Yes I am simplifying things and yes there are various factors, but I always try and get to the heart of an issue and start with a simple solution until it that solution is proven inept.
With my younger kids, I have a different approach and it is simple. They do not have a problem, they a curable illness. Stay with me for a second before you call me crazy. We work together to find a solution and in that process they learn that the illness, whatever it is no different than a cold or sprained ankle, only its cure is different. The best part of this is that they have become their own doctors now. They both diagnose and prescribe their own effective treatments and everyone else provides support.
What does this have to do with spirituality? This approach is based on the belief that we are always whole and complete. That our true nature is to understand this and act on it. I believe if we can put these thoughts back into our families and especially our young people we will see these conditions diminish greatly and even disappear in spite of the elements young people have to deal with on a daily basis.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading. I deliver my thought to you humbly and respectfully and not to make less anything anyone is going through with any of these issues, they are tragic and I feel for anyone involved in them. Thank you.