Youth Depression and Anxiety: Reasons and Remedies

Understanding a depression is quite difficult as it’s invisible. Since it does not have any visible symptoms it is detected by observing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Depression has symptoms related to how someone feels.
Depression is getting more rampant than ever. Sadly, one out of eight teens is suffering from depression.

Why do teenagers get depression?
Teenage can be an extremely tempestuous and difficult phase. In this time of life, one passes through multiple changes which might leave most of adolescent confused and depressed. From breakups to the feeling of worthlessness to social status, there can be a plethora of reasons behind adolescent depression. And on top of that, their inability to handle such situation worsens the case. So to help teenagers understand and get out of depression, here we have listed few causes of teenage depression, symptoms, and prevention:

1) Academic Stress:
It’s a competitive world and teens are pressurized to be academically bright. Some teens are obliged to excel at any cost which can be stressful and disturbing. Stressing over grades, exams and classes can cause adolescent to become depressed.

2) Peer Pressure:
Peer Pressure is an inevitable factor in teen’s life. One might feel pressure to try things like smoking, drugs. They might not want to do but are scared to refuse as refusal may put their friendship at stake or they might end up damaging their reputation.

3) Social Anxiety:
Teens aspire to be popular among their friends and if they don’t get the attention and popularity it can upset them to the extent that they end up being depressed.

4) Romance:
Romance is a prominent and most influential part of life during teenage. Breakup, unrequited affection and complicated love life can cause teenagers to be depressed.

5) Early Childhood Trauma:
Emotional abuse, physical abuse, the demise of loved ones or other traumatic events can have a deep impact on every human being which can cause depression.

6) Economic Status:
Family passing though the hard time due to the tight budget can be depressing. You cannot spend as much as you like and have to compromise with everything. It can be upsetting.

7) Heredity:
If family or parent has a history of depression, it’s likely the offspring also suffer from it.

8) Hormones:
Sometimes hormonal changes also trigger depression.

SYMPTOMS:

Spotting the symptoms of depressions is one heck of a task. So to find out if one is actually suffering from depression, their behavior should be monitored closely. Below we have listed few behavioral and emotional changes:
Emotional Changes:
• Crying and feeling sad for no apparent reason
• Feeling empty and hopeless
• Bad mood
• Feeling angry at a minor thing
• Losing interest in normal activities
• Conflict with friends and family
• Lack of confidence
• Feeling worthlessness
• Self-criticism
• Extremely sensitive and need too much reassurance
• Trouble concentrating and remembering things
• Suicidal thoughts
 

Behavioral Changes:

• Fatigue and loss of energy
• Sleeplessness or over sleeping
• Change in appetite
• Become alcoholic or drug addict
• Restlessness
• Slowed thinking
• Poor academic performance
• Social isolation
• Self-harm
• Suicide attempt

Treatment:

The selection of medication is based on the type and severity of symptoms. The most effective way to treat teenage depression is by providing them with both medication and talk therapy. But if a teen has tried to harm himself/herself or attempted suicide, s/he should be admitted to hospital.
Here we have listed some treatment option
Medications:
According to the Food and Drug Administration, teenagers suffering from depression can intake two medicines: escitalopram (Lexapro) and Fluoxetine (Prozac). However, it’s compulsory to talk with a doctor to find out which medication is best for you and possible side effects of that med.
Psychotherapy:
Psychotherapy also known as talk therapy is a way of treating depression by interacting about depression and other issues. Therapies such as interpersonal therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy is proven to be effective.
Alternative Medicine:
Before going for alternative medicine or complementary therapy, make sure you understand both benefits and risks of those therapies. Keep in mind, alternative medicines are not believed to be a good substitute for medical care. Some of the alternative treatment techniques include acupuncture, medication, massage therapy, yoga, relaxation techniques and spirituality.
Hospitalization:
If depression is severe and teens are trying to harm themselves, they should be admitted to the hospital until the symptoms are better managed.