'The end of my tether’

Many parents find bringing up adolescents extremely challenging. Furthermore the nature of the challenges can make parents reluctant to seek help. Teenagers may be engaged in behaviour that parents regard as highly problematic, that they find shameful, that is illegal, or all three. This can mean that parents are reluctant to discuss their concerns within their own informal networks or with professionals such as teachers or doctor. As is also very clear from interviews conducted for this report there is a fear that if professional help is sought, the situation will be taken completely out of parents’ hands. It is important to understand therefore what outweighs all these obstacles and leads parents to ask for help, and this was one of the key questions addressed
in interviews.