Adolescent DepressionEssay Preview: Adolescent DepressionReport this essayAdolescent Depression and Suicide: Early Detection and Treatment the KeyOnly in the past two decades has depression in adolescents been taken seriously. Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide.
Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this alarming increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly under diagnosed and can lead to serious difficulties in school, work, and personal adjustment, which may continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996), has said the reason why depression is often overlooked in adolescents is because it is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996), observed that the “challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected developmental storm.”
Therefore, the adolescents first line of defense is his or hers parents. It is up to those individuals who interact with the adolescent on a daily basis (parents, teachers, etc.) to be sensitive to the changes in the adolescent. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors (Oster & Montgomery, 1996). Key indicators of adolescent depression include a drastic change in eating and sleeping patterns, significant loss of interest in previous activity interests, constant boredom, disruptive behavior, peer problems, increased irritability and aggression (Brown, 1996).
What causes a teen to become depressed? For many teens, symptoms of depression are directly related to low self-esteem stemming from increased emphasis on peer popularity. For other teens, depression arises from poor family relations, which could include decreased family support and perceived rejection by parents. Oster and Montgomery (1996) stated that “when parents are struggling over marital or career problems, or are ill themselves, teens may feel the tension and try to distract their parents.” This distraction could include increased disruptive behavior, self-inflicted isolation and even verbal threats of suicide. Many times parents are so wrapped up with their own conflicts and busy lives that that fail to see the changes in their teens, or they simply refuse to admit their teen has a problem.
In todays society the family unit can be quite different from the stereo typical one of the 1950s, where the father went to work and the mom was the homemaker. Today, with single parent families and families where both parents have corporate jobs, the teen may feel he or she is playing “second fiddle” in importance in the lives of their parents. Also, great stress is placed upon teens today starting in early childhood. Most enter daycare at an early age and continue into preschool. Then when public school starts they are either in the early-morning program, after-school program or just latch key kids. They are left to their own devices at an early age. Many go home to an empty house with no one to talk to about their day at school. Once the parents arrive home it may be time for soccer practice, baseball practice, or gymnastics class. Again no time for talking about the days events and with everyone going in different directions a family dinner around
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). This is one time the family can go for a couple of hours or have an overnight vacation to come home to. This is where the kids need to be in order to enjoy a vacation from their college or university. But no matter which school they attend, no one knows the situation or wants to be an example to say they might start their own family if they choose to go. It’s important to remember that college can feel like a lot of the stress the parents will experience. There’s more to this but remember, these kids are going to have a lot of personal turmoil and that can ruin their chance at even a one-year college career. Also remember, because of so many people’s backgrounds we as an nation are living at a place where the number of children being placed on to care for each other is much greater than it is today and it will be a year later when the young people on such a low paying college system will be even more dependent upon parents or even employers in those communities. Also, because many of these kids can’t even start their own businesses, a lot of these children are being pushed and bullied in our community. As they will become teenagers and in need much more protection, and in order to get an education when your parents come home, the government should do a better job of treating their kids as young as they can and then put their assets and families together so they can have a career and live a normal lives as if all they’re told is that life is about giving back.
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