The alarm jolts you awake as you start feeling the day's weight. As you prepare for the day, you mentally prepare yourself to interact with your teen. Lately, it’s been like walking on eggshells. You want to connect, but you don’t know how. As your teen gets up, nose in the phone, the silence in the house feels heavy. Your ‘Have a great day!’ gets the typical ‘Whatever!’ or worse, no response…You feel both sad and irritated. What are you doing wrong?

It’s hard to focus. Your mind drifts to your child—how withdrawn they’ve become, the change in clothes, the anxiety and anger that seems to hang over them like a cloud. You feel helpless and confused. You know they need to talk, which spikes your stress. What should you say? How can you talk to them when everything you try makes things worse?

When you try to talk with them after school, they immediately tense up. “It’s nothing. Just drop it.” You start to feel your frustration boil over. “I’m trying to help, but you won’t even talk to me!” It doesn’t take long for your teen to retreat to their room, muttering, “You don’t get it.”

You are angry, hurt, and utterly overwhelmed. Why can’t you reach your child? Why do you feel so alone in this? Scrolling through social media, seeing posts from other parents who have everything together. You feel a pang of envy and guilt. Comparing yourself doesn’t help, but it’s hard not to.

You know you’re stressed, which affects how you manage things, but you don’t know where to start; that thought feels overwhelming. You feel like a failure for not having all the answers, for feeling so frustrated when you know your teen is struggling too. You feel trapped in a cycle of worry, guilt, and frustration.