Adolescent Depression

Adolescent Depression

Depression is something that I really have had no experience with in my life. Personally, I might have thought about killing myself figuratively at one specific point in my life. I thought about what the consequences would be and how it would effect the people who surround me in my life. As soon as these thoughts raced through my mind, I quickly realized that suicide is the wrong way to deal with life. I know that depression plays an essential role when dealing with suicide. There are three main depressive orders: Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymia, and Bipolar Disorder.

Major depression is manifested by a combination of symptoms (see symptom list) that interfere with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once pleasurable activities (NIMH, 2006). This form may only occur once in a lifetime, but more commonly occurs several times. Some of the symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, sadness, or fatigue. Not everyone who is depressed or manic experiences every single symptom out there.

Dysthymic disorder is less severe, but more chronic form of depression. It is diagnosed when the patient has been in a depressed mood for one year and usually comes with at least two different symptoms of major depression. These symptoms do not disable its patient, but hold them back from functioning well in life's daily activities. Dysthymia is associated with an increased risk for developing major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse (Birmaher et al, 1996).

The third type is bipolar disorder, which is also called manic-depressive illness. It affects adolescents more often than it does children, but is more likely to affect the children whose parents have the disorder. Not nearly as prevalent as other forms of depressive disorders, bipolar disorder is characterized by cycling mood changes: severe highs (mania) and lows (depression) (NIMH, 2006).

Twenty to 40 percent of adolescents with major depression develop bipolar disorder within 5 years after depression onset (Birmaher, 1996).

Depression is one of this countries most prevalent disorders. A number of epidemiological studies have reported that up to 2.5 percent of children and up to 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S. suffer from depression (Birmaher et al, 1996). Research is finding that depression is occurring earlier in life today than in past decades. Depression in young people often co-occurs with other mental disorders, most commonly anxiety, disruptive behavior, or substance abuse disorders (Angold et al, 1993).

Like I mentioned earlier, depression in adolescents is associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviors. In 1997, suicide was the third leading cause of death in 10- to 24-year-olds (National Center for Health Statistics, 1999). This statistic alone goes to show how much our society needs to focus its attention to this issue. Friends and family should take all form of threats seriously if they want to prevent someone close to them from death.

Adolescents have an equal risk for depressive disorders. In today's society, teens are very vulnerable to depressive disorders. Children who develop major depression are more likely to have a family history of the disorder, often a parent who experienced depression at an early age, than patients with adolescent- or adult-onset depression (Harrington et al, 1997). The correlation between this fact and adolescents isn't as high as it is for children. Some of the risk factors include stress, loss of a loved one, abuse, trauma, breaking off a romantic relationship, and even cigarette smoking.

Stress seems to be the biggest factor out of all of them, especially for adolescents who have not found out who they are yet. Some potential sources for stress include environmental, organizational, and individual factors. Environmental factors are things like new technology, horrid climatic conditions, or the general work environment. Organizational factors include pressure of failure, completion of task in short amount of time, or work overload. Individual factors are things such as peer pressure, family issues, economic problems, or medical problems.

From my experience, peer pressure or fitting in, is the single most prevalent problem among adolescents today. This seems to be because the demands on today's adolescents are more complex than they used to be for previous generations. Many of today's youth fail to have a source of guidance and love, whether it is a family, role model, or even a group of friends. To help adolescents deal with peer pressure one could provide opportunities for success such as joining a group that encourage and value the individual. Another way to help the individual would be to focus on the positive by praising their accomplishments. Preparing adolescents with alternatives such as discussing ways to resist peer pressure and thinking for themselves are good ways to help them cope. When dealing with the topic of depression, many times it's because the adolescent doesn't fit in nor have any friends to help him/her with their problem. Peers are necessary for normal social development and can be an effective role model as well. In many cases, ones self concept is influenced by how he/she is viewed by their peers. The concept of self is a big factor of why adolescents fall under the disorder of depression.

When dealing with the idea of treatment, the first thing that all patients should do is to seek out a physical examination by a physician. If there is no physical cause, then the next step would be to receive a psychological evaluation by either a psychologist or psychiatrist. A good diagnostic evaluation will include a complete history of symptoms, i.e., when they started, how long they have lasted, how severe they are, whether the patient had them