An insight into the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of adolescent depression.
This paper examines the growing problem of depression among adolescents. The first part of the paper is an overview of teen depression, looking at its causes and contrasting teen depression with depression in adults. The next part then looks at the depressive symptoms among teenagers, contrasting these with the symptoms of depression in adults. In the last part, the paper examines the various approaches that have been taken to address the problem of depression among adolescents.
“Teens with major depression could show the same symptoms as dysthymia, though these symptoms could be magnified. A major depression also causes an adolescent to experience more of these symptoms at a time. In addition to the ones already mentioned, a depressed teen can also show psychosomatic problems such as headaches or digestive disorders (Lewisohn et al 2003). They could evidence restlessness and may be unable to concentrate on tasks at hand. In addition, depressed teens could have strong feelings of guilt and a sense of worthlessness. These feelings could contribute to thoughts of death and precipitate suicide attempts.”