How to Prevent Depression in Teens
Steven Ross
This article will deal with the very serious subject of depression in teens. The fact is that each year 4% of all teenagers suffer from a serious depression which will require help from a professional.
While feeling sad is a healthy feeling, prolonged sadness without recovery leads to depression. If your teen is depressed, you will most likely find they will have problems with school work, relationships with friends and family, and engage in potentially harmful actions like drug use and unprotected sex.
However, with the proper resources, depression in teens can be treated. With that said, most depression in teens in the United States goes untreated. This is unfortunate, because depression that is untreated will only get worse, and be harder to treat if treatment does take place.
Bipolar disorder and reactive depression are the two most common forms of depression in teens. Reactive disorder deals with prolonged states of sadness and feelings of unworthiness in teens. Bipolar disorder, once referred to as manic depression, is a depression where the teenager goes through extreme moods of mania and sadness, usually in a short period time.
When evaluating depression in teens, there are certain symptoms you should look for. If your teen cries, but doesn't fill the usual relief associate with crying , and is continually said, this is a critical sign.
Another critical sign is if they have low self-esteem and often express feelings a guilt, even when there is no reason to. Finally, consider some of the factors for depression in teens such as an overall negative outlook on life, irregular sleep patterns, frequent indecisiveness, and high irritability.
Your teen should communicate with somebody they trust, if they feel they are depressed. There are many different people you should consider as options to communicate with, such as you and your spouse, your family doctor, a member of your church whom you trust, the school counselor, or professional therapist.
Psychotherapy and/or medication are two methods that are most commonly used in treating depression in teens. Depression in teens is alleviated with psychotherapy by talking about how the teen feels with a trained therapist, while trying to locate the root cause of the depression. Depression can be easily corrected in most cases, because the teen is unaware of their faulty view of understanding reality, which is causing the depression.
Medication is often prescribed in more severe cases of depression in teens. In fact, in more severe cases, medication may first be required before therapy can take place.
To sum it up, consider the facts I've offered in this article as they relate to depression in teens. This information can be used for you to help determine the best course of action, and to make sure your teen is not suffering unnecessarily because of depression.
Author Steven Ross is a long-time Positive Mental Health fan and can help you with all your depression questions. For
http://www.DepressionandAnxietyReport.com/ Positive Mental Health advice visit his new site at
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