The teenage years are one of the most emotional years when a student leaves childhood, but does not always know what it means to be an adult. It was at this time that he was subject to various influences, contradictions, often disappointed in life situations, friends, people. If things go bad at school, there is no support at home, then a teenager develops depression. What to do when it appears, how to recognize and conduct the necessary treatment in time, will be discussed in this article.
Depression: Definitions
Depression is an oppressed state characterized by a breakdown, indifference to public life, and refusal to perform important tasks and assignments. This psychological state is considered a disease that must be treated. Quite often, a person cannot get out of depression on his own, so he needs outside help.
Like any disease, a depressed state has its own symptoms and causes. Adolescents, like adults, are subject to depression, which often becomes a factor in psychological disability or mortality. Therefore, it is so important to recognize this disease in order to help in time and return the joy of life to the student.
Causes of Teenage Depression
A depressive state usually occurs not from scratch, it can have both objective and subjective factors. The main causes of depression in adolescents are as follows:
- Hormonal changes in the body of children. During this period, they change physically quite strongly, the ongoing chemical processes can cause mood swings, anxiety, and anxiety.
- Failures in school life. Underachievement, rejection by classmates, "attacks" of teachers, increase emotional instability, make a teenager miserable.
- Social status. If a child does not enjoy respect among peers, friends constantly make fun of him, do not value his opinion, then this attitude suppresses the student, makes him lonely.
- Unhappy first love . Adolescents react very sharply to the feelings that have arisen, which most often remain unanswered, so children have a critical attitude to their appearance and body. They cease to respect themselves, believe that they have nothing to love, as a result of such an attitude leads to despair and depression.
- High requirements of parents. An overestimated bar, excessive for a student, causes him a sense of uncertainty, fear of punishment for an unattained result, fear of even greater demands.
- Family trouble. Relationships in the family play an important role in the emotional state of the child. The development of depression in adolescents may be due to the indifferent attitude of parents who are not interested in the life of the student, who do not support him, who are not happy about the achievements of the child.
Symptoms of a Depressed State
Any disease has its own signs by which it can be recognized. Depression is manifested by the following symptoms:
- constant apathetic state;
- the appearance of various pains (head, stomach, back)
- persistent feeling of fatigue, loss of strength;
- the student cannot concentrate on completing a specific task; he becomes forgetful;
- sadness, anxiety, excessive anxiety appear;
- irresponsible or rebellious behavior - a teenager skips school, does not do homework, spends late on the street;
- insomnia at night, sleepiness during the day;
- a sharp decline in school performance;
- avoidance of peers, ignoring various activities;
- lack of motivation to perform any duties;
- eating disorders - the student either refuses food or abuses it;
- excessive agitation, frequent outbreaks of anger, irritability;
- obsession with the theme of death, the afterlife.
In general, signs of depression in adolescents cause changes in their behavior and mood. Schoolchildren become closed, spend most of the time in their room, do not communicate with other people. They lose interest and motivation for previously favorite activities, become gloomy and hostile.
Age characteristics
As children grow up, they change not only externally, but also internally, they look at the world differently, see and understand new interconnections, relationships between people. Therefore, it is at this time that they are prone to depression.
The most peak period of depression in adolescents is considered the age of 13 to 19 years. At this time, students are stressed, they have unstable and heightened emotionality, the world around them is perceived through a magnifying glass, all problems seem insoluble.
At the age of 15 years, severe and moderate forms of the disease are rare, but this does not mean that you do not need to pay attention to the depression of the child, since the mild stage can quickly become more severe.
Children 10 to 12 years old mainly exhibit symptoms such as general deterioration in health, digestion and nutrition. In addition, the behavior of schoolchildren is changing, they become more withdrawn, lonely, can complain about boredom, lose interest in previous activities.
Adolescents 12-14 years old hide their depressive state, however, it manifests itself through mental and motor inhibition. Children can not clearly articulate their thoughts, difficulties arise in the communication process. Symptoms of depression in adolescents also appear, such as poor performance, poor discipline, anger, and spending more time outdoors. Schoolchildren are in constant tension and fear that they will be abused, read notations to them, and humiliate them.
The most problematic depressive states occur between 14 and 19 years, the age when it is difficult for schoolchildren to choose a future path and pass exams. In addition, they tend to think about the meaning of life, which they still cannot understand and find, such thoughts acquire a self-sufficient character. During this period, symptoms of depression in adolescents, such as insomnia, impaired appetite, irritability, fear of decision-making, anxiety, and others, may most acutely manifest themselves.
Types of Depression
Depending on the behavioral characteristics of the symptoms, the following types of depression can be distinguished:
- Zombies - looping a teenager in a certain occupation that does not carry any benefit, but is completely barren. A vivid example is spending time on social networks, constantly updating the page in anticipation of a new event. The child turns into a "zombie" that feeds on meaningless information.
- The riddle - the schoolboy does not show any signs of the disease, however, he dramatically changes in a short period of time. Transformations can affect appearance, habits, worldview.
- Victim - depression in children and adolescents often takes the form of a victim, when they, feeling their worthlessness or inferiority, are easily influenced by a more successful person, from their point of view, under whose influence the depressive state only intensifies.
- A screen - schoolchildren hide visible experiences, fears, pain behind visible success. This form of the disease can lead to the fact that the child will constantly strive for success, but this will not bring satisfaction.
- The problem is that adolescents do not feel a taste for life, they are all bored and uninteresting, they can always be depressed. At the same time, they study well, do not lead an asocial lifestyle, but such children do not have spiritual harmony.
- Rebel - This kind of depression speaks of its protracted form. A schoolboy does not value life, it annoys him, while he is practically not subject to suicidal behavior, because he loves his Ego too much and protects it.
Depression in boys and girls: gender differences
Teenagers who are depressed, unable to withstand it, often try to find some way out that will help ease their suffering and drown out the pain. Moreover, the answer to the question of how to get out of depression is seen by a teenager as a boy in rebellious and asocial behavior, and a girl in isolation in himself or in causing even greater suffering.
Boys most often get involved with a bad company, try all kinds of drugs, alcohol, and close themselves in this way not only from personal problems, but from the world as a whole, from its injustice and misunderstanding. In this state, the child feels absolutely happy. There are no responsibilities, teachers or overly caring parents.
Depression in a teenage girl has slightly different manifestations. She goes into herself, closes herself from external influences in her inner world, becomes unsociable, closed, lonely. Often this behavior is associated with low self-esteem, when a girl does not know what to respect herself for, what is her attractiveness, while she tries to drown out the pain through promiscuous sexual intercourse. Most often, such an underestimation of oneself as a person, of one’s abilities comes from the family, when the child was little talked about how wonderful and good she is. Indeed, with respect to the girl, there is no much love, this will not spoil her, will not make her a hypocrite.
However, such exits from this condition only worsen the situation: after the end of the drug or sexual intercourse, the pain becomes even stronger, self-esteem drops to zero. Therefore, it is important to start combating depression in adolescents in time to avoid voluntary departure from life.
Depression Treatment
If you find the above symptoms, you need to consult a doctor so that he determines the competent treatment, which can be medication or be advisory in nature.
Of the medicines, various sedatives are usually prescribed, which do not have a detrimental effect on the child’s body as a whole, do not lead to drowsiness and renunciation. Any drugs must be taken strictly as prescribed by the doctor in order to avoid various unpleasant consequences.
However, most often it is enough to conduct a course of psychological consultations where treatment of depression in adolescents is carried out through a search for the causes of the ailment, learning to recognize negative thoughts and the ability to cope with them. Such consultations are held both separately with the child, and with the whole family, if the causes of the disease become difficult relationships with relatives.
Parental assistance to a teenager
The main role in the prevention of depression in children is assigned to their parents, whose behavior and attitude will help either to completely not know this ailment, or to easily cope with it. To protect a teenager from a depressive state, parents need to choose the following parenting tactics:
- It is not recommended to constantly punish or humiliate a child, otherwise he will grow up uncertain, squeezed, will consider himself useless to anyone.
- Do not overly patronize children, make decisions for them, which provokes teenage depression, the symptoms of which are manifested in the inability to make a choice, to be independent.
- You can’t pinch the child, restrict his freedom, he should feel his independence, but at the same time know that the parents are always there.
- To give an opportunity to choose a creative club, sports section, friends yourself, do not impose your unfulfilled dreams on a teenager.
- It is necessary to talk with the child, it is best to do this through joint activities. It is recommended that you choose what both the teenager and the parents like to do: it can be family skiing, ice skating, creating interesting crafts, reading books and much more.
- If a child shares his difficulties, it is important to listen to him, in no case should you make fun of a problem, even a trifle. It is better to discuss everything and find a solution.
- Constant moralizing can also cause depression in adolescents, so it is recommended to teach by deeds, not words, you need to be an example for your child.
Signs of suicidal behavior
Teenage depression can take a rather dangerous form - voluntary departure from life. All problems that arise in students are considered insoluble and insurmountable, causing unbearable pain. Among them, the most popular: poor performance in school, unrequited love, problems in the family, constant failures in various matters. Teenagers, unable to withstand such emotional stress, take the extreme step - suicide, which solves all difficult issues at once.
Among the main signs of this behavior are the following:
- lack of faith in a good and joyful future, the child loses all hope;
- indifference to oneself, depression in adolescence manifests itself through phrases such as "I do not need anyone, nobody cares about me";
- the student ceases to do what he loves, loses interest in learning;
- often starts talking about death or even threatens to kill himself.
If a teenager exhibits at least one of the above symptoms, then you can not leave this unattended, you need to talk with a child or go with him to consult a psychologist.
Underestimating and re-evaluating the situation
A depressive state is not always easy and simple to recognize, but you do not need to go to extremes, which include underestimating or, conversely, re-evaluating what is happening.
All adolescents are subjected to psychological stress, this is a normal process that has the same symptoms as depression. However, it is shorter, the child does not close in itself, easily makes contact. In this case, do not overestimate the situation and lead the student to the doctor, a rather confidential conversation at home. Here parents can tell about themselves how they experienced certain problems at this age.
At the same time, children who really need help are left unattended, parents let the problem drift, signs of depression in adolescents are not noticed. There is an underestimation of the situation, the child is left alone with his problems, which is fraught with psychological disorders or suicide.
Therefore, it is important to correctly recognize the first and second, to provide them with support and, if necessary, treatment.
Thus, a depressive state is quite common among adolescents, which is explained by their internal and external changes, when children are not ready to accept the new rules that adult life dictates, they cannot understand the established relationships between people, find their place in society. The development of depression in adolescents is dangerous for their mental health and life, since untimely help, parental or medical, can provoke suicide as the only way out of this situation.