subject: Anxiety treatment and solutions from Kaynaz Nasseri,Psychotherapist in LA [print this page] Features of Adolescent Depression:
You can see that periods of depressed mood make up a normal part of your child's life. You even expect such periods at times of tension or change, specifically following such serious losses as the death of a loved or the loss of a good friend. So how can you tell whether your child requires treatment for clinical depression?
Three features differentiate normal depressed moods from clinical depression in childhood: how much (degree ), how deep (pervasiveness), and how long (duration). Clinical depression does not refer to a passing sad mood, but involves a marked disturbance of mood that persists for an entire day , nearly every day, and remains for at least two weeks. Depression in children is becoming more and more common amongst children and teens.
At present, 1 out of 8 teens is a victim of depression, and that number appears to be rising from year to year. Often children and teens do not get the mental health services that they need , not because their parents are not careful enough , but because parents often have difficulty finding depression in kids and teens. Children and adolescents are notoriously resistant to expressing their feelings of sorrow often associated with depression. Instead kids and teens feel depression through a different set of symptoms commonly noticed in adults.
A psychotherapist must diagnose depression by testing and interviewing the child and by talking to the parents or other people familiar with the child's symptoms, mood and behavior. Becoming aware of the signs of depression can make careful the parents to search for the professional help the child may need.
The following are symptoms that parents should look for in their children: headaches at frequent intervals, frequent stomachaches, changes in appetite, changes in sleep patterns, inattention, lack of energy, and social isolation. Children who present with several of these symptoms may be experiencing depression, and may need to be examined by a mental health professional in order to enjoy relief from their symptoms, and avoid further psychological complications resulting from untreated depression.
