Teenage skin can be problematic and so can the teen mind. This week CNN reported how a Greencreek, Idaho mother, Elaine Sonnen, turned her 16 year old son in to medical professionals for making a “hit-list” of children at Prairie High School in Cottonwood, Idaho that picked on or annoyed him. It was Richard Sonnen’s intention to kill them, he said.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Richard was subsequently placed on medication which seemed to help stabilize his moods. He spent 16 months being treated at mental health facilities. Richard said he believed at the time that it would be “good revenge” on the children who had bullied him for years.

 "I always wanted to get back at them," Richard Sonnen said, "I always wanted to strangle them. I was always mad. I was always angry and I would come home and cry to mom and dad."

Elaine Sonnen saw the warning signs in her son and did something. She watched him closely, searched his room and questioned him about the names of the kids he wanted to harm. When he wrote down a list for her she took immediate action.

During treatment Richard says, “I opened up. I felt better. I moved on with myself,” Later he was arrested for making threats to carry out shootings at Lewis Clark State College and Lewiston High School.

 He has been banned from campus for a year but still denies that he was doing anything more than relaying the high-school hit–list story to his friends. Richard had been adopted from a Bulgarian orphanage when he was 4½ years old but shortly after he had been home for a little while his parents noticed that their son could become angry and out of control, even threatening to kill his mother.

 Richard was already taking anti-psychotic medications by the eighth grade. Later he began reading books about Columbine and the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. He told CNN that they became heroes to him. What is going on with teens in America? I often hear this question asked and know that so many teens have feelings of anger, sadness and isolation.

In the case of school shooters these feelings are intensified and aggravated by homicidal and suicidal thoughts. This news story concerned me greatly. Not only are troubled teens being bullied for their race, religion, education etc, but so many teens with acne must be discriminated against on a daily basis because of their appearance.

How are you feeling about yourself your school life, your friends? Do you have thoughts of harming yourself or others? How is the nightmare of teen acne influencing your life and your personality? If you are a parent that has a teen with acne are you taking time to talk to him/her about his feelings? Do you know if he/she is being bullied or is bullying others due to lack of self esteem?

Ask these questions now, and ask them thoroughly! Sit down with your children and talk to them about their feelings. Be a pro-active parent. Don’t wait until, as in the case of Columbine, it’s too late. Most importantly find the correct teenage acne treatment and use it. Teens feel more confident when their skin is healthy.

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