Hi Alison, this must be a very challenging time for you. It is quite unusual for a teenager to deliberately wet herself. The most common cause of daytime wetting amongst teenage girls is a urinary infection so it is important that you have ruled this out. A sudden onset of daytime and nighttime wetting can also be an indicator of juvenile diabetes. A return to wetting may be the result of stress or emotional upset. Adolescence can be an incredibly emotional and turbulent time; many teenagers feel confused and do not always know how to reach out to others for help. Common psychological stressors for adolescents include things like family disharmony, abuse, the loss of someone close, difficulties at school which may be related to peer relational problems such as bullying or the breakdown of an important friendship or exam-related anxiety. The first thing you need to do is to work with your daughter to try and identify the reasons for her wetting. If she is in fact engaging in this form of behaviour as a means of gaining your attention you need to think about why she feels this is necessary. Making her feel ashamed or anxious will only make the problem harder to deal with. In some instances children benefit from speaking with a mental health professional. You would need to ask your GP for a referral to a clinical psychologist who can spend time with your daughter to help identify the underlying cause.

Regards,
Dr Cathrine

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