(888) 576-39994 Facts About Teen Treatment for Depression and How Parents Can Help
Depression is by far the most widespread mental illness in the world. According to the
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, about 5% of all teens and
children are afflicted by the ailment at any one time.
Teens, on the off-hand, are misunderstood for being moody and rebellious, but more
often than not, the child either has undiagnosed behavioral problems of some kind,
which might call for teenage issues counselors. It’s important to know the difference
between depression and sadness and how you, as a parent, can help.
Teen Treatment for depression is a serious matter and here are a few facts and tips to help your teen today.
Mood swings don’t necessarily indicate depression
Depression affects different people in different ways, and everyone deals with it
differently. Common patterns are constant sadness, insomnia, and sleeping too much. Mood swings are also a symptom of various forms of depression. The existence of these or more symptoms does not necessarily indicate a teen is depressed.
For it to be considered a ‘depressive episode,’ the symptoms
need to have lasted for about two weeks or more. Then you need to worry.
Identifying depression isn’t clear-cut, as it depression often comes in waves. Mental illnesses vary in intensity. It doesn’t help that the image the media provides is to the extreme of things when certainly even mild depression still counts as depression.
Even worse, people with depression are assumed to be loners or troublemakers.
Often, someone with depression isn’t the person who makes the most jokes or interacts with people the most. This makes singling out depression difficult. Some signs that can be used as almost definite go-to’s include withdrawal from family (while seemingly fine being with friends)
and a sudden lack of interest in anything at all (which is a form of lethargy).
Depression often brings friends
Any time depression is mentioned, words like anxiety are usually also thrown around
because depression rarely ever exists on its own. Anxiety can be independent of
depression because its development is encouraged by day-to-day activities like
academic pressures.
However, depression might cause a multitude of other problems in a teenager’s life.
Getting help or counseling in Van Nuys shouldn’t be too expensive, however.
Teen depression is curable
What makes depression one of the most frustrating diseases to deal with is that it’s very easy to cure, but most people don’t get the help they need. The most effective
treatments include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) at the hands of counselors who are knowledgeable about teen issues in Van Nuys, for instance.
It may come to pass that antidepressants are prescribed for you. These should be relied upon over a duration of a few weeks to a year, depending on the doctor’s instructions.
How parents can help
The first step towards keeping depression away is participating in anything that will keep
from making the problem worse. These are positive coping mechanisms. These are usually
hobbies like gaming, going for a run, swimming or even knitting. Preferably, it should
involve going outdoors and doing a bit of exercise. Parents should encourage the same.
If you think your child exhibits depressive symptoms, it’s really helpful to see a specialist. Teen Treatment for depression is what you need to help your child grow.
They can both diagnose the illness if it exists and prescribes the right medicine and dosage.
The doctor might also be able to recommend teenage issues counselors in Pasadena, for example, which will help tremendously.