My son is 17 and he has struggled with depression and self-harm in the fall/winter but has been doing much better overall since then. I have worked hard on building trust, creating opportunities to have positive experiences doing things he likes, trying to help him stay out of defense mode, etc. However, recently he has been getting very down over something related to his online friends but he refuses to tell me anything about it. I think he is embarrassed. He has been questioning whether he is gay so I am not sure if that is a part of it also. Bottom line is, he is shutting me out completely, won't talk to me about this, and he's having some worrying periods of depression. He also is less active online with the friends he's had for years and who I know are positive influences, and much more active online with people that I have no knowledge of. It's new for him not to want to talk to me, as he usually has always let me know what is going on when he's feeling down and we have a very good relationship. I am really open-minded and he knows that, but for some reason this is too big to share. I'm not sure how to navigate this - I know that teenagers want and need privacy and that it's normal, but I worry about him because of his history with self harm and suicidal thoughts and misinterpreting the cues of others both online and in person. I have just told him that I support him and that I'm here if he does want to talk, and I try to check in on how he is without prying for details... but it's very hard. Any advice or ideas?

Posted by sariweston108 at 2022-06-30 16:35:23 UTC