If you are a parent and concerned about your teen's emotional health, remember to remain approachable. Communicate openly with her and you will see how willing she will be to talk to you about her concerns. If your daughter does not tell you what she is feeling you will have a hard time helping her.

You can also help your daughter feel good about herself and boost her self esteem.   If you feel good about yourself and show this to your daughter, a little bit of confidence will rub off on her.   Giving your daughter positive feedback and acknowledging her positive traits and accomplishments will also help her feel more confident.   In teen girls, lack of confidence is often a source of emotional distress. By openly communicating with you daughter and providing strong and positive support, you can help her overcome many of the pressures she feels as a teen in today's society.

Of course, there are situations when all of the positive support in the world is not going to be effective enough.   If you feel like your daughter is at risk for a serious emotional problem, or already has one, there is help.   There are specialists in every field of therapy that can help your daughter through anything--from an eating disorder to drug addiction to depression or suicidal thoughts.    Check for the following warning signs if you are concerned that your daughter has an emotional problem:

• She has trouble concentrating
• She is withdrawn from her friends and prefers to spend time at home alone.
• She is agitated and restless
• Her grades have dropped and she is having trouble in school
• She isn't motivated to do the things that she used to do
• She is sleeping poorly
• She's gained or lost a lot of weight
• She has outbursts and gets very angry at you
• She has very low self-esteem
• She acts out and breaks household rules