A couple of years ago, depression among youth has been unknown but today most of the teenagers and youth seem to be victims of depression. For various reasons, depression has been dawning over adolescents and has been rising rapidly. The constant pressure on the children as to how they should fare in the class, how should they behave and look like have taken an immeasurable toll on the health of the youths. However, the signs of teen depression are difficult to spot as mood swings, rowdiness, irritability; negativity, withdrawal etc. are often what teenagers experience during their growing years.
Depression is one such disease which can even lead to death if it is not treated in time. Parents must be aware of the fact that family turmoil, social rejection, fear of failing etc. can all result into depression. It is the responsibility of the parents to take note of the changes in the behavior of their children and look for signs and symptoms of depression. Some of the very common symptoms of depression are:
1) destructive behavior
2) hallucinations
3) complaints of feeling tired, guilty and worthless
4) Loss of appetite and weight or variable changes in the eating habits.
5) Degrading performance in school or college
6) Sudden mood swings
7) Aggressive and violent behavior, etc.
These are some of the very common symptoms of depression that you will see among youths and teenagers. Depression is a mental illness which can lead one into attempting suicides. The reason behind most of the suicides and suicide attempts by teenagers is depression. Lack of experience coupled with the intense pressure leaves the teenagers with utter confusion as how to react or face a certain situation. And these sometimes drive them to depression and in response to the depression they kill themselves when they feel that they can’t take in anymore.
Case study on teen depression has revealed that about 2.5 % children and 8.5% adolescents suffer from depression. It has also pointed out that early onset of depression among children has become some sort of a trend. This early onset of depression may lead to other illness in adult life. Researchers have further pointed out that half of the teenagers suffer from depression and about 5% of them are victims of major depression. Another research has pointed out the fact that teenagers opt for self medication for fear of embarrassment.
Majority of the youths has resorted to taking drugs and marijuana as a means of self medication to uplift their spirit. However, ONDCP reveals that marijuana would rather worsen and compound the problems. It can also lead to other mental disease such as schizophrenia, anxiety and even suicide. The research has also established a close linked between insomnia and schizophrenia. It shows that children who show symptoms of insomnia are likely to suffer 2.3 more times from depression.
Read on to know more about causes of teen depression. Depression can attack you at any stage. Read on to know more about male depression and other depression symptoms.
