About teen depression
Teen depression is one of the most rapidly growing problems of the world. So much so, that you’ll find a number of websites on the Internet, that are devoted to helping out teenagers, who suffer from these problems.
The causes of depression in teens, vary. There are some teens who suffer from depression due to biological disorders. These are caused due to hormonal imbalances in the brain. The treatment for the same is often medicines, and delay in treating, this form of depression can be fatal. Its also important that, no medicine for depression should be given without the consent of a doctor.
There are temporary causes of depression which happen, to almost every teenager. These are due to the hormonal changes which affect our bodies, due to puberty and growth. It has been seen that this form of depression affects teenage girls much more, than it does to boys. This happens because girls usually face more changes in their bodily structure, as compared to boys. These include the menstrual cycles, pregnancy and other related problems.
Apart from the physical causes of depression, there are various other mental causes also. These forms of depressions can be accompanied by the physical forms of depression or can either happen by itself, as well. These causes include traumatic incidents in life like separation of parents, death of a loved one, broken relationships, incompetence, obesity and various other factors.
As a result of these factors, the teen can either indulge in aggressive or withdrawal forms of behavior. Aggressive forms of behavior include, acts like hitting classmates, hurting one’s self, sexual aggression and other similar forms of behavior. But this withdrawal behavior is accompanied by the reclusion from social activities. These include avoiding social outings, interacting with friends and siblings, avoiding talks with parents and other such forms of behavior.
The problem of depression can be minor initially, but at times, it can easily escalate into a chronic one. Usually the chronic form of depression can lead to other mental and physical forms of illnesses. There are chances of the adolescent indulging in non social behavior and criminal activities. In extreme cases the patient may also commit suicide.
Teen suicide rates, have also increased over the past few years. This clearly depicts that in spite of remedial and preventive measures for teen depression; the problem still persists and continues to grow.
The failure of parents and teachers to understand the symptoms of depression, are one of the major reasons for this rise. Most of the teens who commit suicide had not been treated for depression. Hence it is vital to understand the symptoms of depression and the problems related to it, else this disease can become a big threat to the future generation and can also lead to an increase in the number of teenage suicides.