Depression In Teens

Understanding someone who is suffering from depression is difficult. The sadness, despair and anger they are going through are unimaginable. Almost one in eight teens gets depressed at one time or the other. Sometimes the family is supportive and tries to help the victim in whatever way they can but most of the times lack of awareness makes it go undetected and instead of understanding, the victim is criticized. For example – low energy is taken as laziness; bad grades are taken as irresponsible.

A teenager from any caste, creed, color or status can be affected, but girls are affected more than boys. To understand if you or someone you know is going through depression you need to know the symptoms. If you see someone sad most of the time without any particular reason or has no energy and enthusiasm, to enjoy life, play sports over even complete simple tasks, grades start coming down, significant weight loss or weight gain, does not want to interact with family and friends, a feeling of worthlessness, making them think of suicide.

Everybody goes through mood swings once in a while. We all have our shares of ups and downs and are out of it within few hours or days. But if the sadness persists longer and starts interfering with the ability to perform daily chores then you must pay attention and seek medical help.

Hormonal imbalance, identity crises, peer pressure, negative happenings can all lead to depression. Some teenagers are strong and come out of this phase without any damage but others need help and if left unattended, depression in teens can lead to fatal consequences. With the help of a professional it is totally curable; the combination of medicines and therapy can be very beneficial for the teen.

Remember, depression is a problem and should be treated seriously.