Teenage boys and personal grooming

Is it normal for teen boys from the age of 16 – 17 to not shower all the time? I just don’t get it. Are they afraid of water? Is it too much work? What is the cause? Why? Why? Why? My son is driving me insane. He went from a prim and proper, 7 pm sharp shower schedule to “Is it Sunday? I guess I’ll shower today?”.

Some one please explain?

My son does suffer from depression yes. He is on medication has been for a year now. He was finally correctly diagnosed with mild schizophrenia. His symptoms started when he was 13 and he was miss diagnosed as having bipolar 2. I have discussed this with his therapist, psychiatrist numerous times. They have even asked him if he feels its a direct affect of his depression due to what he suffers. He says that he does not believe it to be a problem.

I have heard people say that teenage boys are like that. Is that the case? Am I over reacting?

this is why I asked the question

asked October 7, 2014

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somanybooks

3 Answers

0 accepted

i doubt his depression is the reason behind it, my own boyfriend who is 16 and doesnt have depression only showers once or twice a week, ad he rarely smells bad. for me and im a 16 year old girl i can only shower twice a week because if i shower more than that i get itchy dry skin, thats probably not the reason why he doesnt shower often, my bf says that he just doesnt like going out of his way to shower, becuase its a bit of a hassle to stop wha hes doing and shower than lotion then put clothes on then get back to what he was dong. so its not unuasual not to shower than often, i would just make sure hes not stinky, and if he goes longer than a week you should probably have him at least wash up AREAS with a rag

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rose

210

Is there anything else going on with him? Sudden deterioration of self care (like showering) is one of the possible signs of depression, for instance. It isn't an inherent feature of his gender/age though, if that's what you're asking.

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Mechalith

324

Honestly, some boys cannot smell their own stench. Unless he believes that he is dirty, then he doesn't feel the need to shower, but his definition and understanding of dirty may be miles past your standard for dirty. He should probably just be put on a shower schedule, something that is consistent and regulated so that he doesn't get depressed when you get upset that he may smell.

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Alex