How To Recognize Depression In Adolescents
Adolescence is a time of changes, personal searches, first loves and disappointments. Without a doubt, it is a difficult time for young people and also for their parents. Teen depression is more common than you might imagine and has nothing to do with the occasional bad mood.
Taking this information into consideration, here are some red flags that you should be able to recognize when detecting depression in adolescents.
Teen Depression: What is it?
Depression is defined as ” a syndrome characterized by deep sadness and by the inhibition of psychic functions, sometimes with neurovegetative disorders”.
This mental health problem causes the person to lose interest in doing activities that they previously enjoyed. Thus, your adolescent child can be affected to such an extent that he modifies his way of thinking, feeling and behaving.
When we talk about depression in adolescents, we are talking about serious functional, physical and emotional problems that can lead, in extreme cases, to self-harm or suicide attempts.
Approximately 10-20% of adolescents worldwide experience mental health problems. However, many are not diagnosed or treated.
While the pressures of adolescence, such as the desire to belong to a group, the ups and downs of first love and school expectations can cause sudden mood swings in young people, depression goes further. Thus, when talking about this problem, we refer to a feeling that lasts over time.
Risk factor’s
First of all, it is important to note that any teenager can suffer from depression. However, there are some situations or characteristics that could increase the risk of your child suffering from this disorder, such as genetic predisposition and brain biology and chemistry itself.
Let’s see below what are the factors that generate stress in young people and can trigger depression:
- Peer pressure
- The influence of the media
- Excessive use of technology
- Exploring one’s sexuality
- Domestic violence
- Bullying and intimidation
- Socio-economic problems
- Suffering from any physical or mental illness
- Teenage pregnancy
- Membership of an ethnic minority group
Symptoms of depression in teens
Opening your eyes wide and being attentive to any changes in your child’s personality, behavior and attitude over time is the best way to support and help him. Thus, below we will present the main symptoms of adolescent depression.
- Feeling of sadness that triggers heartbreak crying
- Changes in appetite: teenager eats too much or does not eat
- Insomnia or excess tiredness that leads to sleeping all day
- Drop in school performance
- Alcohol and / or drug abuse
- Migraines, headaches or stomachaches
- Self-harm: adolescent self-inflicts pain
- Making a suicide plan and attempting to commit suicide
- Irritability, frustration, and anger for no apparent reason
Note: It is worth clarifying that it is not necessary to comply with the entire list for you to go to the medical consultation. The specialist will be the one who can best evaluate your child and give the most appropriate treatment recommendations.
Treating depression
If you suspect that your child is depressed, the first thing to do is talk to your trusted doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist. He will know how to guide you and determine the best treatment for your child. Generally, a combination of antidepressant medications and psychotherapy is recommended.
Psychotherapy involves attending meetings with a therapist (psychologist or psychiatrist) who will try to help the adolescent to recognize his illness and change his negative thinking to start seeing, again, the glass is half full.
Regarding medication, fluoxetine or escitalopram is usually prescribed. Both drugs have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of depression in adolescents.
Finally, at the slightest suspicion that your child suffers from depression, go to the doctor. He will check your son and diagnose him, to later start a treatment that helps him see his life through another glass.
