Depression in Adolescents

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Depression in Adolescents
Depression is a huge plague in the world. The American Psychiatric Association reports that depression occurs if at least 5 of the following symptoms occur for at least 2 weeks: depressed or sad mood, decreased interest in activities that once was enjoyable, weight gain or loss, psychomotor agitation or retardation, fatigue, misplaced guilt, a lack of concentration, or even recurrent thoughts of death. Approximately 121 million people are affected by some form of depression. Statistics from the Center for Disease and Control Prevention show that approximately 8.3 percent of adolescents are affected by depression. Whereas this number seems small compared to the number that affects adults, it is important to remember that depression is difficult to accurately diagnose in adolescents because of the many changes they are experiencing during this period of their lives. They are not as mature and don’t understand a lot of these changes they are experiencing, therefore that number may not accurately reflect the true number of adolescents that suffer from depression. Depressive disorders for youth includes MDD, dysthymic disorder, cyclothymic disorder, bipolar disorder (I and II), mood disorder due to a general medical condition, substance-induced mood disorder, and mood disorder not otherwise specified and depressive disorder not otherwise specified (Hamill-Skoch, Hicks, Prieto-Hicks, 2012). This paper will discuss the causes, symptoms, and effects of treatments for adolescents faced with depression.
The cause of depression is controversial. Some believe that it is biological and others believe that conditions such as poor social skills contribute to the onset of depression. Many studies show that when paren...

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...cks, P., & Prieto-Hicks, X. (2012). The use of cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of resistant depression in adolescents. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 3, 95+.

King, K. A., & Vidourek, R. A. (2012). Teen depression and suicide: effective prevention and intervention strategies. The Prevention Researcher, 19(4), 15+.

Lamarine, R. J. (1995). Child and adolescent depression. Journal of School Health, 65(9), 390+.

Melinda Smith, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., and Damon Ramsey, MD. HelpGuide. February 2014.

The real deal. (Statistics). (2001, September-October). Psychology Today, 34(5), 16.

Yapko, M. D. (1997, May-June). The art of avoiding depression. Psychology Today, 30(3), 37+.
Zack, S., Saekow, J., & Radke, A. (2012). Treating Adolescent Depression With Psychotherapy: The Three T's. Psychiatric Times, 29(11), 36-38.

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