I have a sixteen-year-old daughter, Cameron, who's been behaving very weirdly lately.
At first, I thought it was growing pains, but recently, she's been throwing "tantrums", if you would, over mental health, and the mistreatment of those who have mental health issues.
Whenever my husband or I try to talk to her about it, she closes herself off, only saying things about how she hates the stigma, and if people took the time to understand that it's a chemical thing, not a character flaw, the world would be a much better place for these people, etc.
Cam had also been very closed off from the rest of the world, listens to her iPod like it's a religion, and spends hours and hours online doing God-Knows-What (she erases her browser history). Snowboarding used to be her passion, and everything she wanted in life, but now, she seems as though she could care less. Her grades in school are abysmal, and she doesn't seem to care at all.
The most worrying part for my husband and I though, is that she'll say things like "I'm not going to live past thirty", "Hey, pass me a Reese's" (she's deathly allergic to peanuts), or "What's the point in going to school? You go to high school to get into university to get a good job to earn tons of money and spend it on crap you don't need. It's not like you can take it with you."
She also has an (in my opinion) extremely unhealthy obsession with what happens when people dies, and enjoys playing with fire. Scratch that. Playing involves activity. Cam just lights the match, or flicks on the lighter and stares at the flame like it's God's gift to the universe. If it's a match, she lets it burn until it hits the tips of her fingers, then blows it out and laughs at the blister it leaves.
Whenever we ask her about any of this, she brushes us off, or goes along with it and makes a mockery of our concerns.
Should my husband and I truly be concerned, or are we just over-protective?
Thank you in advance for your opinions.