This article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal makes an important point about teenage depression: there are aspects of being a teen (moodiness, acting out) that are likely to emerge periodically regardless of any other factors, so catching the situations where those aspects tip towards something more requires a keen eye and a delicate touch. Here’s an excerpt, and we hope you’ll read it and click through for the full article. If you’re in the greater Cleveland area and you recognize traits in your teen you’d like to have evaluated, we hope you’ll reach out.
“Hormones and stress can explain occasional teenage angst, but when we see that there’s an unrelenting unhappiness or irritability, those are the times we want to step in,” (Joelyne Gold, director of clinical services at Montevista Hospital in Las Vegas) said.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health in 2014, an estimated 2.8 million adolescents ages 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major depressive episode. This number represented 11.4 percent of the U.S. population ages 12 to 17.
Gold noted that the signs and symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation are going to be notable and include sadness, hopelessness, irritability, anger, hostility, frequent crying, withdrawal from friends and family, loss of interest in activities, poor school performance, and changes in eating and sleeping habits.
Any items on the list can occur in a child who isn’t having serious issues, but persistent and intense recurring incidents are a cause for concern, she said.
“Often there will be suicidal warning signs,” Gold said. “Teens may talk about or joke about suicide, saying things like, ‘I’d be better off dead,’ ‘I wish I could disappear forever,’ or ‘There’s no way out.’ Sometimes they speak positively of death or romance it, saying things like, ‘If I died, people might love me more.’ It’s important that we communicate with a teenager who is depressed to find out what they’re thinking or feeling rather than believing it’s something that’s going to work out on its own.”