Understand the Common Causes of Teen Depression

There are many causes of teen depression and the depression can be transitional or transient in nature and can come from a wide variety of factors.

Depression can be a transient response to many situations and stresses. In teen depression, it may be from one factor, multiple factors, or in some cases, nothing that can be pinpointed. Teen depression is often common due to emotional factors, hormonal changes and the simple stress of being a teenager as well as parental issues and conflicts that may be taking place. Because your teens sometimes have the odd blue feeling day, many parents and even physicians don't see the overall picture and teen depression is often overlooked.

Teen depression is one of the fastest growing issues in not only America but also Australia, England, and several other countries. There are many types and causes of teen depression, and there are many different treatments that may address and help them. These include medication, nutritional supplements, and counseling and family therapy.

Depression in a teen can be reactive to some event that has been overly disturbing, such as the death of a close friend or relative, the breakup of a relationship, a school problem or failure, or even lack of close friends. Girls are more likely to suffer from serious depression than boys, while those who are lower in self-esteem, live with particularly critical family members or are emotionally or mentally abused may suffer more from depression. Those who feel that they have no personal control of their life, and are self-critical are far more likely to become depressed and suicidal than those who are not. These are also very much at risk for depression when they are presented with a stressful event in their life.

Real, long-term depression is hard to pin down in teens in some cases because the teen years tend to present us with some very high moods as well as some very low ones. On any typical day a teenager may express both the "life is amazing" as well as "life is horrible" moods. This makes real depression sometimes difficult to assess.

In cases of real teen depression, the mood lows will last for days or weeks. You will see some real and pivotal changes in the behavior of the teen in a relatively short amount of time. Neglecting family and friends, anger or depression, the inability to concentrate, loss of interest in school or outside activities are just a few of the things that you can look for to ascertain whether a teen that you know is depressed.

Long-term depression in the teen years is as destructive as it is in an adult. Get a handle on your depression by asking for some help. If you simply aren't enjoying life as much as you could be, or used to be, try talking to someone and sorting through your own emotions. It's possible that you are suffering from teen depression. There is help for your problem and asking for help means that you're going to be enjoying life again very soon!