Depression in Teens
Depression in teens is caused by a combination of three things: genetics, what is happening in a their life, and what is going on in their body. Usually, more than one is present in a teen that develops depression. Therapy Insider offers child placement specialists that act as advocates to parents searching for alternative treatment or placement for their troubled teens.
Teenagers who have chronic medical problems are much more likely to get depression. Severe asthma, severe head injury, diabetes, epilepsy, and many other common chronic childhood diseases can result in depression. Teens with certain disorders of the brain often get depression because the same chemicals and the same nerve pathways are involved in both. Teenagers with neuropsychiatric illnesses like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, learning disabilities and related conditions are much more likely to become depressed.
Teenage substance abuse is very common among depressed teens, especially alcohol and marijuana. Just as with adults, a teenager can develop all the signs of depression due to drugs and alcohol use. However, recent research has found that it is more common that a child will become depressed and then begin using drugs or alcohol rather than the other way around. In adults, when people stop drinking or using drugs, their depression usually clears over the next two to four weeks. In adolescents, this rarely happens. Even after they are clean, most depressed adolescents are still depressed.
If a teen's parent has depression, there is a 40% chance that they will become depressed sometime before their 20th birthday. The younger the parent was when he or she became depressed, the more likely their teen is to become depressed. When mothers have been seriously depressed their children are even more likely to become depressed and when they do it is often times more severe, lasts longer, and is accompanied by other psychiatric problems. These teens also are more likely to commit suicide.
Therapy Insider Offers Multiple Options for Treating Depression in Teens
If depression is caught in the early stages this medical condition can be very easily overcome. The experts at Therapy Insider are highly educated in dealing with teenage depression and can offer a vast amount of options to parents of struggling teens.