Parent-Child Relationships: Interview with Samar Ali Hassan

Samar Ali is a certified Parent Educator and Relationship Coach with a Masters in Psychology and 20 years of experience in her field. She currently works as a relationship coach helping parents to strengthen and improve their relationships with their teenage children. She was interviewed by Omar Soliman, in Cairo. 

"During my school years my parents had very high demands that had a very negative effect on me. I started to feel so disappointed and hurt. This is my first phase. And during my secondary phase I met a teacher who discovered my strong points and I started to perform better. This triggered me [...] to help students to discover their potential." 

The parent-child relationship is a foundational connection that can have far-reaching effects on people and their own relationships. For example, the interviewee describes how her parents' pressure affected her wellbeing.

"It's not easy for parents to spot the signs of depression. As teenagers [...] already have changes (hormones, physically, brain development) they can mix up between the signs of depression and being a teenager."

Samar Ali further noted signs of depression in teenagers:

"Number 1: they start to lose interest in the things and activitives they used to enjoy. Number 2: the eating disorder is a common factor, or less appetite [... .] Number 3: not only sadness, but sadness and crying frequently that he himself feels is weird. Number 4: frequent outbursts [... .] Number 5: trouble sleeping at night and Number 6: having trouble getting things done, and this is actually because of the low energy level."

Being able to spot signs of depression in teens is important.  In their review of the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and management of depression, Malhi and Mann (2018) cited evidence showing that "depression is almost twice as common in women than in men and, in both genders, a peak in prevalence occurs in the second and third decades of life..."  The challenges of the teen years reflect changes both physiological (e.g., hormonal systems) and social (e.g., relationships).

Work Cited

Malhi, G.S, & Mann, J.J. (2018) Depression.  Lancet 392: 2299-2312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31948-2