“Teenagers are often unhappy with their bodies,” explains child psychiatrist Daniel Marcelli, “and this may be why they are so reluctant to shower.”
“With regard to hygiene, adolescents usually demonstrate two extreme types of behavior: some sit in the bathroom for hours, others do not go there at all, as if not noticing their unpleasant smell and untidy appearance. Previously, dislike for washing could be explained by the lack of suitable conditions. However, now parents from the first days of a baby’s life turn the bath into a real pleasure – with the help of various gels, foams and toys. Why do teenagers have a dislike for water procedures? Most likely, mothers take care of such children for too long and closely, without instilling the ability to wash themselves – for this they simply did not have enough time, desire or patience. But then, when the schoolboy is left alone in the bathroom for the first time, he may start to panic: his mother left him, he protests, unconsciously yearns for a happy childhood when he was spoiled.
Insist that your growing son (or daughter) take a shower at least every other day. Delicately and with humor (but without irony!) Explain that our attractiveness directly depends on cleanliness, but do not put pressure on a teenager, otherwise you can provoke a rejection reaction, and he will fundamentally not go to the shower.
Some high school students go to the other extreme and spend hours bathing, dressing up and dousing themselves with fragrances. They do not like the smell of their own body, which at the age of 13-18 releases very odorous hormones. Teenagers are uncomfortable in their new role, and they are trying with all their might to hide their nature, hide behind a strong scent of perfume. Tell your child that this is normal at his age, and the strong smell will disappear with time. However, this is not a reason to move to the bathroom, which is also needed by other family members. And besides, teenagers need to learn to love their own smell – the natural smell of a clean body, which, by the way, is not so easy in our society with its cult of perfume, fragrances and other artificial fragrances.
About the Developer
Professor Daniel Marcelli – Head of the Service for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and Psychiatry at the University Hospital of Poitiers (France).