Is Your Teen Depressed? Signs to Watch Out
It is common for teenagers to deal with emotional highs and lows. One minute they feel awesome and the next minute they feel sad. These are not simply caused by hormonal changes. Teenagers are in a stage wherein there’s a lot of pressure around them – increasing responsibilities at home, tougher school works, and the challenges in their social relationships.
But depression is a different thing. It is not just simple moodiness. It is a serious mental health condition that can lead to suicidal thoughts and behaviours. In fact, the third leading cause of death among teens is suicide caused by untreated depression. According to the NHS, 10% of children in Great Britain, between the age of 5 and 16, have a recognisable mental disorder, 4% of them suffer from depression or anxiety. Thus, it is very important for parents to become familiarised with its warning signs.
Hopelessness
Teens with depression may feel that life is not worth living. They believe that there’s no way they can change or fix a negative situation.
Poor performance in school
Children and teens who lead trouble at home or in school may actually be depressed but are unaware of it. They are also more likely to get frequently absent from school, and show poor performance.
Reduced interest in activities
They may also lose interest in the activities they used to enjoy, and may back out from sports clubs and organisations in schools. Depressed teens spend more time alone and refrain from going out with friends and family members.
Anger, irritability and cruelty
Depressed teens are always irritable and often pour such negative emotion to their friends and family. They may feel the need to reject other people before they get rejected by them.
Substance abuse
Many teenagers who are suffering from depression find comfort from alcohol and drug use. Whilst it provides them temporary relief, substance abuse could worsen their depression and lead to other mental and physical illnesses.
Social isolation
Teens undergoing depression may lose social connection with friends and family. They may not share their feelings with others, which make their condition even worse. It’s because they believe that they are alone in this world and ‘no one’ really cares about them.
Extreme sensitivity to rejection
Depressed people have very vulnerable emotions. They can get deeply hurt with just a word. Since they believe they are unworthy, they take any kind of rejection very personally although they may not show it.
Poor health
Teens who are suffering from depression may complain about physical illnesses, such as headache, light-headedness, back pain, and dizziness. They may also experience frequent stomach ache, vomiting and menstrual problems.
Poor concentration
They may also have problems concentrating on their tasks, whether at home or in school. They are often lost in negative thoughts that are making them more anxious and depressed.
Self-harm
Self-harm is another sign of depression. Sufferers may find it hard to talk about their feelings, concerns, and other sentiments that cause them pain so they often choose to just show it through self-harm.
Suicidal thoughts and behaviours
Teens who are depressed are most likely to express thoughts and behaviours leading to suicide. They may share insights about a life that’s not worth living, or may joke about killing themselves. Always take their statement seriously and seek help from a mental health professional.
If you think your teen is depressed, get him or her evaluated by a mental health professional. It is also important that they are given support, love and understanding. It’s the best way to make them realise that in this battle, they are not alone.
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