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Monday, April 9, 2012

When is Teen Angst Really Depression?

Teens sometimes get a bad wrap due to the hormonal surges that bring emotional ups and downs. The truth is that most teens navigate the duress and stress of being a teen fairly well with the help of supportive parents and a good peer support network.

But sometimes, more serious emotional problems will persist. Depression is treatable, but experts say only 1 in 5 depressed teens actually receive professional help. As parents--AND WRITERS--it’s good to know some of the warning signs of depression so that you can best direct and guide your child to get help.

Click here to read the rest of my April article for Choose Now Ministries.

Posted by Jeannie Campbell, LMFT at 6:00 AM

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Jaleh · 676 weeks ago

I probably could have used professional help as a teen, but the only help anyone tried to specifically give me was my middle school's psychologist, and even though she was really nice, nobody really asked me if I wanted to see her or told me why they thought I should go (or who'd been concerned). But since it took me out of class, it made me feel even worse in some ways to be singled out. And I don't remember it being particularly helpful. I don't think we actually dug down into why my confidence was so low. We just sort of focused on how to make friends, which doesn't much help if the underlying issues aren't discussed. If she hadn't been so nice, I would have resented the time, but I felt bad that I couldn't tell her why it wasn't helping. Not just because of my confidence, but I literally didn't have the language to explain it.

I think if it had been explained better why someone had been concerned about me in a way that would have boosted my self-esteem (especially if it had been a teacher I liked), it would have been easier to start talking. And if after that first session, I'd had more control over the timing of future talks, it would have felt more voluntary to go. But I realize this was also twenty-some years ago. Regulations and understanding of teen issues have changed. We know more now about things like psychological bullying, a term I didn't discover until after college when I was looking up physical effects for psychological trauma regarding an unrelated situation that I was putting a character through.

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