4 Difficult Situations Family Doctors Can Help Parents Deal With

Family practice doctors are not just there for run of the mill coughs and colds. Beyond treating your child’s average cough and cold, family practice physicians can also provide a lot of useful medical advice in a confidential, open, and safe forum. Here are some examples of how having a family doctor transcends the traditional domain of family medicine.

1. Difficult Conversations
   If you have children, try to remember what it was like to talk to your parents about sex. Not fun, right? Having a trusted family doctor that your kids have grown up with will give them access to a non-parental source of advice on sexual safety and health. Knowing that doctors won’t scrutinize their decisions, simply give advice and recommend proper precautions, should allow your kids to get the information they need without feeling awkward about it.
2. Mental Illness
   Parents aren’t always well equipped to recognize the warning signs of mental illness. Family physicians who have known the child for a long time have the unique long-term medical perspective that allows them to recognize those symptoms and recommend a psychiatrist for evaluation. Since over 80% of depressed people don’t seek help from a professional on their own accord, having a doctor that can spot symptoms offers a big advantage.
3. Addiction Advice
   For people suffering from addiction, talking to your parents is probably the last thing you’d want to do. That said, in many cases, it is the first thing you should do. If doing so isn’t an option in your mind, talking to your doctor is the next best thing. This is the best way to get your life on the path to recovery.
4. Obesity Solutions
   As a parent, you might not understand what’s causing your child to gain so much weight. If you are concerned about this, talk to your family doctor about weight loss and obesity solutions. Family physicians can put you and your children on the right path to tackle obesity head on.

Family doctors can absolutely provide care for cough and cold cases, but they can do so much more. They are there to help your family in both medical and medically-adjacent situations. Whether your child has a difficult question that they don’t feel comfortable asking you, is struggling with a mental illness that they’re keeping quiet, or have an eating disorder that they are losing control over, family doctors can provide advice and treatment strategies to help your whole family overcome.