Frequently Asked Questions

In this section you will find questions asked by teenagers like you; questions they asked while participating in this course. Read them carefully.

Remember that if you are an institutional participant and you have filled out the health profiles, you can have access to the nurse. This service allows you to ask about different topics that you consider important and are related to your adolescent life. All correspondence is considered confidential and will be addressed by a professional in less than 48 hours! To watch a demo click  here.

1. Lately, I don’t have the motivation to keep going with my life.   I have too many problems.

It’s understandable that when you have many conflicts or problems, your energy or the motivation to keep living, do things, plan activities and even have fun, can diminish.  These lead you to have reactive behaviours toward your environment (home, school, community, etc).  This can feel like too much if you add it to all the changes you have as a teenager (hormonal changes in your body, the way you want others to look at you, etc.).  Even so, it’s important to stress that you are showing the willingness and desire to change the circumstances and that you are looking for help.  You are taking the first step is by contacting Support-Yourself.  Thank you for trusting us.

By coming up with possible solutions to your conflicts and problems, you are starting to make an important change: taking control.

Which problems require your actions for them to be solved?

In school, can your grades improve? What’s your plan to make this happen?

Develop a study plan, spend more hours studying and do you homework daily.  

Other situations could require more emotional attention, such as, communicating better with your family; sharing your interests, goals, dreams.  You can communicate any situation you think is affecting you personally.  Make new friends.

We invite you to write us again and tell us which of your problems have required positive actions on your part.  Look for alternatives that will allow you to make decisions and plan new solutions based in your values and goals for the future.

Also, remember that you can look for support in people you trust — your family, friends, teachers — who can help you explore new ideas and develop your skills.

2. Would like to have more friends.  What can I do?

Making new friends or developing a romantic relationship takes time.  Start with your knowledge (self-knowledge).  When you discover your feelings, thoughts and behaviours, you will have enough information to evaluate and decide which activities you would like to participate in and with whom you would like to share (religious youth groups, sports activities, art workshops, literature clubs, etc).

By participating in new activities you will interact with people who will share interests with you — girls and boys, with whom, without any hurry, you can decide to what levels of intimacy you, want to go.

To strengthen your friendships, remember it is important keep the following in mind:  what are your values — respect, honesty, responsibility, trust, etc.  These values will help you to relate positively.

3. How can I prevent flu, stomach infections and other common illness?

Germs that cause infections transmit through sneezes, coughs, and body secretions such as sweat and saliva.  In the case of stomach infections, they usually occur through the contamination of food with bacteria.  So, the best thing you can do is avoid contact with body secretions and contaminated food or water.

It’s important to wash your hands frequently, especially after going to the bathroom, sneezing, coughing, touching animals, and being in contact with animals waists.  Also, it’s important to have all your vaccinations up to date.

4. What are proteins for?

Proteins help you grow strong and maintain your level of energy.  Proteins have the potential to build and repair muscles, tendons, skin, nails, and body organs.  They also help with the metabolic and regulatory functions (assimilate nutrients, transport oxygen and fat in the blood).

Given the importance of these molecules that are found in different foods such as soy and meats, nutritionist recommend that young people to eat 5 ½ ounces of proteins daily.

5. How can I loose weight quickly?

 The decision to look for information to strengthen your body and be healthy requires a patient and responsible attitude.  There’s no “magic diet” that we would recommend.  Loosing weight is a process that requires changing eating habits and an exercise routine.  Diets that promote a quick weight loss by eating small quantities or promote the use of pills and other products can have dangerous side effects.

Keep in mind that maintaining a healthy body is a process that requires regular, healthy habits.  It’s important to plan several short and long term actions that include moderate exercise and a balanced eating plan that includes all the nutrient groups.

We recommend that your plan can be supported by a specialist, someone who can evaluate your physical condition, your health and your weight.   It should be someone who can recommend an exercise routine and the best eating plan. 

6. My boyfriend broke up with me to go back with his ex-girlfriend.  I don’t know what to do.  I feel sad.  

It’s understandable that you feel sad when you end a relationship. Thank you for trusting us and writing to share your feelings.

When a relationship ends, it starts a process of changes which means that you will have to live through those changes in the way you used your time and shared with your boyfriend.  This process will take some time.  In the meantime, you can vent the sadness, by crying or talking about your feelings (anger, confusion, etc).   During this period of time, you can also rediscover personal projects and start new plans and goals.  Later you can explore your expectations for a future, new relationship.

Take into consideration that, if during this stage you have difficulty doing your daily life activities (eating, sleeping, work, studying, etc.), you should be looking for professional help, help that will give you the space to express all your feelings, vent your emotions and recover the motivation needed to carry on your activities. 
  

7. At what age can I have sexual relationships?

Having sexual relationships is a very important, personal and individual decision based mainly on freedom and responsibility.

The knowledge of your own body, your emotions and feelings (being in love or being disillusioned) are key elements to determine if you are prepared.  

You should also examine your attitude towards sexual intercourse. 

·    How do you feel about the idea of having sexual intercourse?  

·    How much information do you have and how did you get it?  This information will help you to make decisions that will prevent complications?

·    Are you clear about the person with whom you would like to share this new stage of your life? 

·    It is important to see if you are ready to take responsibility for any possible consequence of sexual activity, such as an unplanned pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease.

Before making the decision to become sexually active, you can search for more information such as contraceptive methods, sexually transmitted diseases and how to prevent them, safe sex, responsibilities of teenager parents and how this can change your life goals.

Before doing anything, plan a time to discover your feelings and thoughts about this subject.  That’s how you will be able to choose your moment.

8. How can I know if I’m addicted to alcohol?

Unfortunately, some young people think they will get into the adult world by the consumption of alcohol.  For others, it means being funny and outrageous.  There are those who think that alcohol is necessary in order to forget problems.

Reflect for a moment on your way of drinking alcohol:

How do you feel?

What’s your purpose when drinking in excess — being happy, forgetting problems?

Do you determine to drink less but you cannot?

Have you felt guilty about your drinking?

Take a look at these warning signs:

¨        Do you have constant problems with your family because of the way you drink?

¨        Have you exposed yourself to dangerous situations? (use of other drugs, unprotected sexual intercourse, etc.)

¨         Are you anxious if you don’t drink during the day?

¨        Have you stopped fulfilling on your responsibilities?

¨        Is your academic performance dropping?

¨        Do you have to tell lies, steal or sell things to get the money to buy alcoholic drinks?

The level of addiction is characterized by the need to drink alcohol given by physical dependency.

When you can look at to your own thoughts and feelings, you can discover if your behaviour is negative, and determine if your relationships or activities are deteriorating.

If you need more help or information, write back to us. Looking for alternatives will allow you to take decisions that will protect your quality of life.

9. I want to stop my addiction.

From Teen Smart and the Support Yourself team, we want to give you our full support, guidance and offer all the information you need.

By having the willingness to decide to start a rehabilitation process, you can ask for support from the people you trust (family, friends, teachers, counsellors) or organizations within your community that have experience working with addictions.  This is important because you will need to go through a process with positive experiences that will give you self-control mechanisms, learn healthy habits, skills to restore your emotions and the ability to manage tension and stress.  At the same time, you will need to incorporate new positive practices such as eating healthy foods, participating in a sports activity, setting new goals and taking the steps to achieve them.  
  

10. My brother drugs himself.   What can I do help him?

Congratulations! Looking for alternatives to support in your brother’s recovery is a very positive initiative.   Keep in mind that your brother’s recovery could be a long process.  He could decide to delay it or cancel it.  It’s his decision to rehabilitate himself.

The way in which you can help him is on a persuasive level.  Here are some steps:  

1.       Talk to him about your concerns about his drug abuse at a moment in which he is not under the influence of a drug.   Listen with respect to what he has to say.

2.       Give him information about groups or organizations (phone numbers, schedules) that work with addiction problems.

3.       Tell him about the conflicts that are occurring because of his drug abuse. (family, financial, job problems, etc.)

4.       It is important not to discuss, criticise, making him feel guilty or judge him.   These things will increase his resistance to getting treatment for himself.

5.       Be patient.

 If you want more information or support, we invite you to write back to us.  Family and friends also need support to vent about the tensions that these types of problems produce.