They spend more time alone. They stop talking as much. They're on their phone more. Something feels different and you can't put your finger on it. Six things a parent can do when they've noticed a change in their teenager and don't know whether it means anything, including what to ask instead of how was your day, when to bring in someone who isn't you, and what changed in one house afterwards.

Your teenager is quieter. Their sleep has changed. Conversations are shorter. Every item on that list also describes a perfectly normal fifteen-year-old, which is why parents explain it away. Chris Coulter on the difference between teenage moodiness and something worth attention, the six questions that separate a bad week from a pattern, and why knowing your child's baseline matters more than knowing the warning signs.

Maddie was in the youth psychiatric ward in North York. Twice. Her friends would call the house and I'd tell them she had a stomach thing and would be home soon. She asked me to keep it quiet and I did. Chris Coulter on the two months nobody visited, why a broken back fills a room and this doesn't, and the decision he never realised he was making.

Ask a parent how their kid is doing and you get an answer, not a guess. Ask a manager about the person ten feet away, same confidence. Nobody is lying. Everyone is answering from what they were shown, and somebody decided what that would be. Chris Coulter on why the people closest to you tell you least, what we measure instead, and the question worth sitting with.

I believed my daughter would tell me if something was wrong. Not confidence. Something closer to how you believe the floor will hold. Every quiet week, every look I couldn't read, went through that filter and came back fine. Chris Coulter on why teenagers often hide more from the parents they're closest to, what that belief was really doing, and the question to ask when your teenager won't talk to you.

Four parents signed up for my teen suicide prevention talk. The school cancelled it, and I spent six months deciding the parents who stayed home were in denial. I was wrong. A sign-up sheet is a public act. You can be deeply worried about your teenager and still not want your name on a list in the school office. Here is what I learned running these sessions since, and what to do when you are quietly worried.