Teen Depression - Symptoms and Causes

When thinking of teenagers in today’s society the first thing that comes to mind is unresponsible, being careless, laughter and fun times and memories. When it all comes down to it if you were to ask a teen if that statement is correct they would most likely respond with “the reality stated is a fairytale’. Which is why this will prove to you why adolescent depression is more serious than you think. What is adolescent depression you may ask? It is a very serious mental health problem that can cause a feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities.

According to Teen depression – Symptoms and causes, “Some of the factors that may increase the risk or even trigger adolescent depression include, peer problems, having issues that negatively impact self esteem, long term bullying or academic problems, or even being the victim or witness of violence”. (Mayo Clinic, 2013) According to the national institute of mental health 11.3% of teenagers suffer from chronic depression. Many people confuse this mental illness with regular sadness or maybe even laziness. Depression goes further than sadness to the point of a bad mental health issue that could interfere with the sufferers ability to function in their everyday lives. In order to find out if you yourself havedepression, a health care professional may run routine lab test, conduct a medical interview and even a physical examination. Depression can make you feel like it is hard to enjoy life or even get through the day. If your doctor thinks you need medicine to help your depression, he or she can prescribe an antidepressant. There are a couple antidepressants that have been studied and proven to help a lot of teens worldwide. (National Institute of mental health Nd).

If your doctor recommends medicine to treat the depression, it is important to see the doctor regularly and tell your parents or guardian about your feelings, especially if you start feeling worse or have thoughts of hurting yourself which should be taken very seriousseriously. It’s understandable that you do not want to tell other people that you have been struggling with depression., But but know that depression can affect your relationships with family and friends, and of course how you perform at school. Maybe your grades have dropped because you find it hard to concentrate and stay on top of school. Teachers may think that you aren’t trying in class but maybe that is because you’re feeling hopeless. ( National Institute of mental health Nd) Chronic stress is one of the biggest factors that can depress a teenager. Chronic stress is defined as stress that never goes away or if it does it comes right back.

Academic problems, separated or divorced parents, hormones,and many more may in some cases be what could possibly cause your teens chronic stress. Some teenagers take on the stress of school which can cause major issues along the way. Some parents do not realize how much a divorce or separation can affect the teens stress. Divorce is painful. It’s painful for parents, for kids, and for close friends and family. We all respond to pain differently depending on who we are and our stages of life. Hormones is something teenagerrs are majorly effected by on constant basis, so because of this most teachers and parents think that a teen who is unhappy is just experiencing hormonal effects when in reality it is usually something much more serious than that. Improving lifestyle and behavioral choices are essential steps toward increasing overall health and avoiding chronic stress. The key to managing stress is recognizing and changing the behaviors that cause it, but changing your behavior can be challenging.

Taking a small step to reduce your chronic stress and even improve your emotional health, such as going on a daily walk, can have a beneficial effect. Being active is a small but very powerful change you can make to manage chronic stress. Physical activity increases your body’s production of feel-good endorphins, a type of neurotransmitter in the brain, and helps in treating mild forms of depression and anxiety. In addition, eating a healthy diet and enhancing both the amount and quality of your sleep may also be very beneficial. (American Psychological Association Nd)

Some people remember their childhood in a happy way like maybe going swimming everyday with your family and friends at grandma’s house, or even spending winters indoors with hot chocolate in your hands sitting by the fireplace. Sadly, in reality not everyone has these happy memories, and as teenagers we are only a few years older than still being children ourselves so for the most part we can vividly what horrific times wwe went through. A bad childhood could be another cause of depression in teenagers. Brain development in infancy and early childhood lays the foundation for all future development. Trauma in early childhood can result in many defects to our mental health as we grow older. Early childhood trauma generally refers to the traumatic experiences that may occur to children ages 0-6. These traumas can be the result of intentional violence such as child physical or sexual abuse, or domestic violence or can even be the result of a natural disaster, accidents or even war. Treating depression would also mean changing a lifestyle, which in the end is not that easy to do. When you’re depressed, it can feel like you’ll never get out from under a dark shadow. However, even the most severe depression is treatable. Which is why even if your depression is keeping you from living the life that you want to, don’t hesitate to seek help. Learning about your depression treatment options wi9ll help you decide which approach is right for you. Some treatments can range from medication, physiotherapy,hospital and residential treatment, or even the littlest things like taking care of yourself.

Your doctor may determine a diagnosis of depression based on a physical exam, lab tests and psychiatric evaluation. ( The National Child Traumatic Stress Network Np) Depression is something awful to live with. Depression is so common which makes it very hard to help one with depression, but if we just looked after the people we love with care and get them help maybe we can even prevent depression from happening and hopefully in the future it will not be as common as it is in present day.