Teenage Depression
An inexistent word, what are teenagers going through? What are they thinking about at that age? What are they going through that I never went through when I was that age? The thing is maybe you went through the same thing when you were a teenager but no one around you could identify it as depression. If not treated or looked into as a teenager it could resurface and in the adult years, there would be symptoms of untreated depression. Teenage depression is a mental issue that prevents teenagers from having interests in activities and causes them to be sad for a long period of time. It affects their thinking, behavior, and feelings. Teenagers have issues such as peer pressure(pressure to look good and fit in), academic expectations, academic pressure from school and families, insecurity, low self-esteem (especially after body change such as puberty). These issues may look like invalid reasons but they are more than just downtimes for some teenagers, they are a long period of sadness that eventually leads to depression. When a teenager has depression they tend to go through emotional and behavioral changes. The emotional changes include :
- Sadness and crying for no reason at all
- Loss of interest in activities that formerly excited the teenager
- Low self esteem
- Frustration, anger, and Irritable
Behavioral changes include :
- Tiredness, insomnia, and Fatigue
- Increase or decreased appetite
- Angry outbursts
- Social isolation
- Regular Headaches or unexplained body aches.
These are a few of the symptoms and signs of teenagers in depression. Most depressed teenagers don’t get better on their own and some of them end up taking their lives. That friend or child that’s withdrawing from you and everything else in her life may likely be depressed. A scary part of depression is some of the teenagers already know they’re depressed but they tend to hide it with a smile and you won’t suspect anything until you read the suicide note.
Try and get close to that friend that you noticed has withdrawn from everyone and everything. If suicide is not the answer then give them an answer, it may be something small and insignificant like food(lol) but a reason to live and support from friends and family will help in ways you can’t imagine.
