Adolescent Depression: What You Need to Know

Adolescence is a critical stage in life. Typically, this period denotes a point where self-realization commences. Regressively, moodiness, stress, and storm have substituted the jovial mood that ought to be the face of this phase. Initially, there was a perception that adolescents were not likely to develop depression. However, recent studies have indicated that teens are now becoming more susceptible to depression. Precisely, many reports suggest that the average onset of depression currently is 14 years ( Skrove, Romundstad, & Indredavik, 2013) . In that respect, it is true to say that people in all age brackets are likely to suffer from depression. The discussions in this paper will focus on the definition of teen depression, prevalence, risk factors as well as the prevention and treatment programs for adolescent depression. 

What is Teen Depression? 

Teen depression is a mental issue that yields a recurring feeling of sadness and diminished interest in activities (Thapar et al., 2012) . This phenomenon affects the behavior, feeling and thinking of a teenager. In worst-case scenarios, emotional, physical as well as functional problems may result. Notably, all humankind have moments of unhappy mood at different points in their lives. This may be as a consequence of a loss of a close partner or failure to achieve certain important goals in life. Such moments may yield stress that can be brief or extend for quite a long time. Studies on depressed mood focus on depression as a symptom whereby depression is defined as a continued presence of unhappiness for an indefinite period. Among the adolescents, depressed mood is usually determined through their self-reports regarding their emotions. The feelings, in this case, are measured using mood or other depressive symptoms such as guilt, disgust, anger or fear. 

Depression among adolescents is a severe medical issue that causes a constant feeling of unhappiness and teenagers often demonstrate a loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed. Adolescents have a lot of ups and downs. For instance, parents and teachers pile pressure on them to perform exceedingly in school. There is also the challenge of peer pressure and production of pubertal hormones that initiate mood swings among them. Nevertheless, teens that experience clinical depression often have a profound feeling that tends to exceed temporary states. Depressed adolescents usually have the impression that there is no solution to their problems. However, various treatment approaches can be used to address their issues as it will be seen in later sections of this paper. It should be noted that adolescent depression is not a sign of weakness. In addition, toughening out does not offer any remedy to the problem. Adolescent depression has adverse consequences and thus it requires a treatment that is life-long. 

Prevalence 

In the U.S and other parts of the world, depression has emerged as one of the serious health issues. Among the adolescents, for instance, there have been increased symptoms of depression at an alarming rate (Bertha & Balázs, 2013). Bertha & Balázs, (2013) noted that people have depressive symptoms before attaining the complete criteria for subthreshold depression (sD). The results from their research showed high prevalent of sD among teens. The authors also noted that sD impacted negatively on the quality of life of the adolescents. In a separate study by Skrove, Romundstad, & Indredavik, (2013), 13% of adolescents aged between 13-18 years reported signs of anxiety and depression. The report also noted that majority of this population had indulged in substance use to cover up for their depression. Research by Beardslee et al., (2013) indicated that the disorders that came because of depression caused disability people between the ages of 15-44 years. Generally, various articles have shown that an estimated 10-15% of adolescents experience depression. Other reports have also shown that one in every five teenagers is going through a major depression following their academic requirements, peer pressure and family matters. 

Causes of Adolescent Depression 

Due to the miscellaneous sources of illness, understanding the causes of depression among adolescents is causing significant challenges. Just like other forms of health complications, risk factors have to interact for one to become depressed. Several risk factors can make individuals prone to depression. These factors have been classified broadly into three categories namely genetic, physical and environmental risk factors. 

Genetic Risk Factors 

Teens who hail from families that in one way or another have suffered from depression stand a higher chance of becoming depressed at some point in life (Beardslee et al., 2013) . A report by Thapar et al., (2012) indicated that there were genes and non-genetic factors that contributed to this issue. Another molecular study by Eley et al., (2004) reported that genes play a role in the development of stress. The results of the research noted that there was an interaction between the genotype 5HTTLPR and the environmental risk factors in females only. This is an implication that the gene 5HTTLPR increases susceptibility to depression especially when an individual is subjected to a stressful life. Despite the fact that maternal depression being viewed as one of the important factors that make offspring susceptible to depression, the evidence is still inconsistent. There are cases where teens have developed this disorder yet none of their parents had previous cases of depression. 

Physical 

The transmission of impulses within the body of human beings involves the brain. This process involves the neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are naturally occurring organic substances in the brain that serve various purposes. It is believed that they also have a major role in the development of depression. For instance, the neural circuits are active in two events namely danger and gaining insight into rewards. The circuits ensure that amygdala is linked to the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (Thapar et al., 2012) . This link ensures that amygdala is connected to the axis activities of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal. The events that take place in this circuit are the ones responsible for major cases of depression. When they are not regulated, depressive symptoms are likely to be experienced. Additionally, hormonal changes during puberty may also lead to depression. Notably, sex hormones have also been associated with changing activities in the neural circuit. Research shows that this neural circuit matures immediately after adolescence. This circuit has been characterized by increased concentration of steroid receptors within it. Probably, this provides a better natural way to explain why girls stand a higher risk of being depressed than boys (Thapar et al., 2012). 

Environmental 

Many scholars have conducted research to ascertain the relationship between environment and depression. Environmental factors like chronic adversity (famine, maltreatment, bullying) and stressful occurrences (loss of loved ones, accidents) have been studied to find out their roles in the development of depression. Such factors do not necessarily cause depression among the teens from healthy parents (Thapar et al., 2012). However, adolescents from families that have a history of depression can become victims of depression under such environments (Beardslee et al., 2013) . Notably, stressful events significantly contribute to the development of first case or reoccurrence of depression. Reports indicate that girl and teens that have stressful life events are more prone become distressed in such instances (Beardslee et al., 2013) . 

Chronic distress that influences negatively on relationships also yields depression among teens. For example, bullying, low-income family ties, maltreatment as well as peer victimization are some of the situations that breed depression. Donahue et al., (2010) also noted that adolescents who noticed instability among the parents before attaining 5 years old are likely to have a sexual partner at 16 years old or becoming depressed during adolescence. Besides, children who experienced traumatic events such as war, severe infections (HIV), sexual abuse or displacement are more likely to develop depression. This applies especially to individuals who have a family history of psychiatric disorder. 

Detection and Diagnosis of Adolescent Depression 

Cases of adolescents depression coupled with the effects that it causes to the teens is alarming. Notably, the detection of teen depression is not an easy because adults focus on their mood alone. However, it is imperative for parents, and concerned parties understand related symptoms for depression so that prompt treatment can be initiated. Some of the symptoms that can be used to deem a teen depressed include hopelessness, rage, poor motivation, the decline in academic performance, and overreaction to criticism. Additionally, depressed adolescents demonstrate restlessness, guilt, suicidal thoughts (Fergusson et al., 2005) , drug abuse, poor concentration or forgetfulness. Notably, depressed teens often use drugs or indulge in sexual acts to shun their depression. They may also be hostile and very aggressive most of the time. 

Treating Adolescent Depression 

Depressed adolescents require urgent and professional treatment so that they can live a normal life. Failure to treat depression can lead to other adverse effects such as cases of suicide. It is not always that depressed adolescents will accept treatment. In such instances, it will be the parents to ensure that they seek professional advice on the matter. Nevertheless, therapy is required to help the depressed adolescents to understand the reason why they are depressed and find a mechanism to deal with the situation (Thapar et al., 2012) . The treatment can take various forms depending on the severity of the situation. For example, the therapy session can comprise of an individual or a team of counseling family. Additionally, a psychiatrist can prescribe medication that can help the teen to feel much better. 

First, an effective treatment plan ought to involve psychotherapy. Under this treatment, an adolescent will be provided with an opportunity to enter into the world that offers them with painful or rather troublesome experience (Thapar et al., 2012) . This session provides them with the skills that will help them to cope up with such situations. The second treatment plan entails cognitive-behavioral therapy. This therapy helps the teens to change their way of thinking and code of ethics. Third, the treatment needs to adopt interpersonal therapy. Under this therapy, a teen will be guided on how to be cordial both at home and in school. Finally, medication needs to be given to the depressed adolescent to ease some of the depressing symptoms. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, depression among teenagers is becoming a global crisis. There is the need to understand the situations that make children susceptible to depression. This will help in initiating programs that would rescue the situation before it worsens. Teens that recognize that they face such situations need to open up so that they can be helped as soon as possible. Besides, depressed teens need moral encouragement and support from family and friends. 

References  

Beardslee, W. R., et al. (2013). Prevention of depression in at-risk adolescents: longer-term effects. JAMA Psychiatry, 70 (11), 1161-1170. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.295. 

Bertha, E. A., & Balázs, J. (2013). Subthreshold depression in adolescence: a systematic review. European child & adolescent psychiatry , 22 (10), 589-603. 

Donahue, K. L., et al. (2010). Early exposure to parents' relationship instability: Implications for sexual behavior and depression in adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health , 47 (6), 547-554. 

Eley, T. C., et al. (2004). Gene–environment interaction analysis of serotonin system markers with adolescent depression. Molecular Psychiatry , 9 (10), 908-915. 

Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L., Ridder, E.M., & Beautrais, A. L. (2005). Subthreshold depression in adolescence and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 62 (1), 66-72. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.1.66. 

Skrove, M., Romundstad, P., & Indredavik, M. S. (2013). Resilience, lifestyle and symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescence: the Young-HUNT study. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology , 48 (3), 407-416. 

Thapar, A., Collishaw, S., Pine, D. S., & Thapar, A. K. (2012). Depression in adolescence. The Lancet , 379 (9820), 1056-1067.