Websites Especially for Teens
Teens have many important questions and concerns about themselves, their friends, and their parents, but figuring out who to ask about what and when isn’t always easy. These mental health resources provide a wealth of information and advice which can help you to find answers to your questions, to better understand the changes that you (or your friends) are undergoing, and to make smart decisions about your life.
The resources below are divided into the following categories:
- General Interest
- Common Teen Concerns
- General Mental Health Resources for Teens
- Specific Mental or Physical Health Issues
General Interest
Safety: Teen Driving
Tips and facts to help teens drive safely, here.
Boston Youth Zone
www.bostonyouthzone.com
“Activities, opportunities, and other fun stuff
for kids and teens. By Boston teens, for Boston teens.”
TeenLife Boston
www.teenlifeboston.com
“Where students, parents and educators come to connect with hundreds of "opportunities beyond school," such as summer programs, school year programs, services, volunteer activities, workshops and events just for teens and their families.”
Common Teen Concerns
The Cool Spot
www.thecoolspot.gov
Created for young teens, this site quizzes kids about how much drinking is really going on in the U.S.
and depicts why using alcohol as a solution to problems or a way of coping is trouble. It also presents
animated scenes that invite kids to identify and resist common peer pressure “tricks” and helps kids learn
the most effective ways to say “no.”
Love is Not Abuse
www.loveisnotabuse.com
Click the “Just for teens” tab at the top to see a list of teen-specific resources.
Love is Respect
www.loveisrespect.org
This site provides access to the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, a phone and internet
resource operated by the National Domestic Violence Hotline. This Helpine and website were
designed exclusively for teens so they can contact a trained peer or adult advocate anonymously
and confidentially. The Helpline and loveisrespect.org offer real-time one-on-one support,
information, and advocacy to those involved in dating abuse relationships, as well as to concerned
parents, teachers, clergy, law enforcement, and service providers.
Maria Talks
www.mariatalks.com
Maria Talks is a statewide sexual health hotline and website designed specifically for Massachusetts teens covering topics such as pregnancy, sexual violence and GLBTQ.
National Institute on Drug Abuse: Students & Young Adults
www.nida.nih.gov/students.html
The “Students & Young Adults” section gives information and resources about drugs, smoking, marijuana,
steroids, prescription medications, and other topics.
Teen HealthFX
www.teenhealthfx.com/answers/Emotional
This site provides teens with an online resource for answers to any and all of their questions regarding
their mental and physical health, relationships, their body and their sexuality. Questions are answered by a
professional staff, and the site includes an “Emotional Health Quiz” and advice “For Teens by Teens.
TeensHealth
http://teenshealth.org/teen/
From the non-profit health organization Nemours, this site covers health issues for teens, dividing them into categories such as Food & Fitness, Infections, and Mind. The home page includes features such as “Hot Topics,” “Expert Answers On...,” and “Featured Articles.”
TEEEN Wellness Program
www.caritasstelizabeths.org/eventsclasses.asp (click on TEEEN in calendar)
The Teens-Empowerment-Exercise-Education-Nutrition (TEEEN) Program is a unique program for children ages 10-20 that are considered prone to be overweight, or are overweight. Our program incorporates exercise, education, and empowerment tools. Activities include nutritional lectures and exercise programs with an exercise physiologist to promote a healthy lifestyle. Participants can join the program any time during the year, but registration is required prior to session.
General Mental Health Resources for Teens
Discovery Health Teen Center
health.discovery.com/centers/teen/mentalhealth/mentalhealth.html
Find out how to cultivate a healthy level of self-esteem; learn about general mental health, depression,
and self-abuse; understand the dangers of eating disorders, and more.
Just for You
www.healthfinder.gov/justforyou
Click on “Teens” for information about topics such as drug abuse, stress and depression.
Mind Zone
www.copecaredeal.org
Information on topics including anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia,
and suicide prevention. Site includes downloadable books with firsthand accounts of teens’ experiences
with mental illness, up-to-date information from experts on the illnesses and their treatment, and tips
for coping in everyday life. There are also links to other helpful websites.
What a Difference a Friend Makes
www.whatadifference.org/
The website for a campaign “to encourage, educate, and inspire people between 18 and 25 to support their friends who are experiencing mental health problems." On this site "find tools to help in the recovery process, and you can also learn about the different kinds of mental illnesses, [and] read real-life stories about support and recovery.” Some material also in Spanish. From the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Your Mind: Sorting It All Out
kidshealth.org/teen
Provides doctor-approved answers, advice and straight talk on over 100 topics related to everything
from feeling sad to relationships to dealing with problems. Site includes answers to questions submitted
by teens. In English and Spanish.
Specific Mental or Physical Health Issues
Got Anxiety? You Can Triumph!
www.gotanxiety.org
This site focuses on the stress of college, and provides all the information you need about anxiety disorders,
how to deal with stress, best ways to study, and much more.
Celiac Disease Foundation
Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America
American Diabetes Association
www.diabetes.org/for-parents-and-kids/for-teens.jsp
Epilepsy Foundation
www.epilepsyfoundation.org/living/children/teens
OASIS (Online Asperger Information & Support)
www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger
Click “Kids Corner” for links to web sites created by and for teens with Asperger Syndrome and related
disorders.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Organized Chaos
www.ocfoundation.org/organizedchaos
This site for teens and young adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder includes an online web magazine written by
young people with OCD, as well as OCD experts.