Adolescence is the time of development often filled with vulnerability and depression. The main reason for this is that it is at this point where many youths are trying to understand their psychosocial development. Most of the risk factors for depression in adolescent are driven by biological, cognitive, and social changes in their development process. More than half of the youths often report having experienced depression of some magnitude, either mild or severe. Depression among young people significantly affects their various areas of development such as academic, cognitive, family and social functioning. It is because of this that it is essential to understand how to treat depression in teenagers before the conditions worsen.
Depression is a common mental health disorder that is known from the persistent depressive moods or even losing interest in numerous activities and thus impairing a significant part of a person’s daily life. Depression today is a serious problem that needs attention especially with the growing number of suicidal youths in the community. Various programs have been put in place to help in managing and treating depression, but still, not many people understand the need to access the medical attention before the condition gets severe. The incidence of depression among youths is of grave concern because of the acute and persistent consequences often relating to depressive disorders. In case, the mental condition is not attended to while the individuals are at the young age, it always worsens in adulthood to a point where it becomes an irreversible condition because of an individual’s adaptation to the various behaviors relating to depression such as drug abuse.
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Researchers have often suggested some ways that can help with the management of depression in adolescence. The key recommendation for this practice includes cognitive behavior therapy, virtual reality therapy and the use of antidepressant drugs like Prozac(Piko, Milin, O'Connor & Sawyer, 2011). These can be divided into two: psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. In severe cases, the doctors may recommend the combination of the two methods, but the standard model of treating depression among adolescences is psychotherapy since it is easy to control and monitor as the patient advances with the medication. The type of treatment however usually depends on the type of depression. Based on DSM-5, there are three types of depression, and these are anxious distress, melancholic features, and atypical features.
Psychotherapy is the most common and recommended a form of treatment as dictated by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and American Psychiatric Association. Psychotherapy is commonly advocated for as the acceptable choice for people diagnosed with mild forms of depression but for people with moderate to severe depression; psychotherapy can be combined with other forms of medication(Staton, 2010). There are various types of psychotherapy, and these include cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and virtual reality therapy.
Cognitive behavior therapy is an evidence-based method tailored to treat numerous mental health problems in youths such as anxiety, eating disorders, ADHD, ODD, and any other issue that might affect their healthy behaviors. This method of treatment is directive, problem-focused and structured to be goal-oriented. The physicians often structure their sessions weekly whereby they develop a collaborative agenda that will give the patients homework that they regularly need to perform by themselves(Krupnik, 2014). The main of cognitive behavior therapy is to help the patients understand the connection between their thoughts, feeling, and behaviors in relation to the stimuli. This form of treatment emphasizes on various skills that that help in coping, developing interpersonal relationships, solving social issues and how to participate in many exciting activities. The interventions used under this method involve creating a list of events which the youth enjoys and creating an extra time every day so that they would engage in these activities. Behavioral activation methods include participating in sports or spending time with the family(Krupnik, 2014). Lastly are techniques aimed at restricting the cognitive functioning, and these involve recognizing negative thinking patterns and cognitive distortions and trying to replace them with realistic and positive thoughts. Therefore, in the end, the aim of cognitive behavior therapy is to help the youths develop better cognitive functioning that will restructure the behavior of the teenager while treating the depressive behaviors.
Interpersonal therapy is the other well-established form of treatment that is sometimes used in treating depression in adolescence. Interpersonal psychotherapy aims at defining the symptoms relating to depression as well as the associated consequences while managing the disorder through the interpersonal lens and addresses the problem areas in the patient’s relationship with the immediate social environment(Lalayants& Prince, 2014). In turn, this would help in reducing symptoms that generally contribute the disorder. Interpersonal therapy seeks to enhance communication and necessary skills needed for solving problems and improving interpersonal relationships and their satisfaction in adolescents. The benefit of using this method in treating depression in adolescents is the fact that it focuses on an integral part of the development which is youth(Lalayants& Prince, 2014). It is at this stage that many people learn how to develop a fruitful relationship. Therefore, interpersonal psychotherapy identifies the existing problems that cause interpersonal deficits and addressing them in the process of treatment.
Immersive virtual reality therapy has also been identified as a method of treating depression in youths. However, this has not yet reached gold standard in managing depression, but instead, it is useful in treating anxiety. Virtual reality therapy aids people diagnosed with depression to be more compassionate towards the idea they have of themselves(Anderson, Zimand, Hodges &Rothbaum, 2005). The patients, in this case, wear virtual reality headsets that teleport them to another virtual body where they can see their body in an active mirror known as an embodiment. In this state, the youths are trained to express compassion to a depressed virtual child(Anderson, Zimand, Hodges &Rothbaum, 2005). This approach aims at allowing the patients to view themselves from a different perspective and thus gaining the courage to understand and love themselves better. Virtual reality therapy is not yet widely used in managing depression, and therefore it is rarely resorted to as a treatment method.
In conclusion, depression in an adolescent is a widespread issue that needs serious consideration. Studies reveal various methods of treatment that are safe, and that does not necessarily involve the use of drugs that can sometimes be harmful. It is thus essential to understand signs and symptoms of depression in its early stages so that immediate help can be accessed. The main reason for treating depression in an adolescent is that it helps the youths learn better ways of developing and building better relationships that foster good academic and psychosocial health. From the discussion, it is evident that cognitive behavior therapy is the gold standard approach of treating depression in youth, but this can as well be integrated with interpersonal therapy so that all affected areas are addressed.
References
Anderson, P., Zimand, E., Hodges, L., &Rothbaum, B. (2005). Cognitive behavioral therapy for public-speaking anxiety using virtual reality for exposure. Depression And Anxiety , 22 (3), 156-158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/da.20090
Krupnik, V. (2014). A Novel Therapeutic Frame for Treating Depression in Group Treating Depression Downhill. SAGE Open , 4 (1), 215824401452379. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244014523793
Lalayants, M., & Prince, J. (2014). Loneliness and Depression or Depression-Related Factors Among Child Welfare-Involved Adolescent Females. Child And Adolescent Social Work Journal , 32 (2), 167-176. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0344-6
Piko, B., Milin, R., O'Connor, R., & Sawyer, M. (2011). Multidisciplinary Approach to Child and Adolescent Depression. Depression Research And Treatment , 2011 , 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/854594
Staton, D. (2010). Achieving adolescent adherence to treatment of major depression. Adolescent Health, Medicine And Therapeutics , 42 (6), 73. http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/ahmt.s8791
