10 Real and Unusual Conditions Teens Suffer From

teens

Teenagers are difficult in so many ways. For some reason they decide they hate their parents – many of them – and they withdraw. They might become more inclusive, more outgoing, darker and more irritable, meaner, nastier and just plain difficult to understand. Not all teens go through the same phases, but many do. And it’s not easy to understand. Without kids of my own in their teens, I don’t know what it’s like. But I do know that on occasion our almost 7-year-old daughter will adopt this attitude that looks like a very scary preview of what’s to come. She drops it fast and we make sure she knows it’s not acceptable behavior, but we worry about the time in which we have four teenagers at once (and four college students). But the everyday teen angst so many parents experience is really nothing compared to the bizarre, sad and very scary real and unusual issues from which many teens suffer. We have a list of 10 of the most unusual, scary and difficult conditions from which teens suffer.

Not all teens will suffer from these disorders, and not all the people who suffer from these disorders and health issues are teens. They can be anyone. But these are just some of the more common issues in teenagers that you might not understand or recognize. They’re slightly different than the things parents expect out of teens, and that means they deserve a little bit of attention and understanding. You never know what your child’s doctor might find when you have him or her checked out when strange behaviors begin to occur, and this guide might help you recognize some symptoms and signs your teen is exhibiting. Yours might not, but someone’s does, and this might make them more aware of what is going on in the life of their child.

Read on to find out about rare conditions teens suffer from

teens

Trichotillomania

It’s described as a mental disorder that affects a number of teenage girls and boys (and adults, too). It’s the act of ripping out one’s hair. It might be eyebrows, hair on the head or hair from any other body part. It could be so bad that teens have permanent bald spots, or it could be fairly minor. But it is very, very real.

Social Anxiety Disorder

It might sound like something we all have from time to time, but some teens suffer from it so badly that they refuse to leave their homes and engage in normal teenage behavior. They are so afraid of being judged that they would rather take a bad grade in class than stand up and give a speech in front of their peers, for example.

Bipolar Disorder

There are times in which you might feel exceptionally happy and times you might feel so low you can’t function. But if a teen suffers from bipolar disorder, this is a heightened issue. The disorder affects the body’s ability to regulate the way a teen feels, and it can cause excessive mood changes out of nowhere.

Schizophrenia

This is a very prevalent health issue in teens as it tends to develop as teens get a little older. It affects the way in which a teen views the world and perceives things in the world. These teens have a very difficult time understanding what is reality and what is just their imagination or thought.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

It might not sound so bad, but it’s medically defined as the inability for the brain to distinguish danger. This means that you might feel as if you are in danger when you are not, which is a very debilitating issue for a teenager.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

It’s not something that only teens are vulnerable to, but it does happen a lot when a teen is injured. Goofing off, playing sports and other injuries could affect your child so that he or she is able to speak in a wonderful foreign accent – and it sounds completely perfect. It’s not the worst thing that could happen, but it is strange.

Cognital Hypertrichosis Lanuginose

This is referred to as human werewolf syndrome. It can affect anyone regardless of age, so that technically makes it an issue from which teens can suffer. It causes hair to grow uncontrollably all over the body, and even laser hair removal cannot make the hair stop growing.

Exploding Head Syndrome

This is something anyone can experience in life, and it’s not dangerous. But it is scary. It’s the sensation that there are sounds very similar to gunshots in your head as you try to sleep. Teens who suffer from this hear these things even though they are not real, and it makes it very difficult for them to sleep. It’s a very difficult disorder from which to suffer because there is nothing that can be done to make it more comfortable or even stop.

Prosopagnosia

This is a health condition that affects around 1 in every 50 people to some extent, and it’s often not really noticed until kids reach their teenage years and become more aware of what’s happening around them. It’s the inability to see faces. They see them, but they will not be able to place them later on – even if that face belongs to a relative, like their mother or father. It’s a very interesting disorder in that it doesn’t hurt anyone, these teens know who these people are, but they just don’t recognize faces when they are out and about.

Anterograde Amnesia

Remember the movie “50 First Dates,” with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in which she was involved in an accident and cannot remember her life when she wakes up in the morning? Well, that’s a real disorder that can affect teens. They literally wake up each day unable to remember what happened the day before. It’s a scary disorder that can be very stressful for families, and it’s much like the movie in which you have to do whatever it takes to remain patient and calm and able to care for a teen with this issue.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

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