All kids have emotional ups and downs  but how would you know that your child needs professional help ? You have to look out for the signs of trouble . These signs include the following :

• Persistent feeling of tiredness and hopelessness.
• Has problems in multiple areas of life  such as relationship, academic performance , friendship and leisure activities.
• Constant anger and tend to overact to situations.
• Persistent worry, anxiety and fear.
• Have significant change in sleep habit or appetite .
• Talks explicitly about suicide .
• Engages in negative behavior more often.
• An inability to think, concentrate or make decisions.
• Experiencing regular nightmares.
• Talks about or engages in any form of self-harm.
• Withdraws from friends , family and activities she use to enjoy.
• Alcohol and drug use.
• Has repetitive, self destructive behaviors such as hair pulling or skin picking.
• Dieting obsessively or binging followed by vomiting or taking laxatives.
• Making comments such as ” I wish i wasn’t here” or ” Nobody will care if i ran away”.

It important for parents to trust their guts. You know your children better than anybody else. If you feel something is not right, it is better to  get it checked. Therapy can be very helpful to kids especially when the problem is identified before it gets worse.