{"id":2086,"date":"2011-07-25T17:07:12","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T17:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhavenrtc786.e.wpstage.net\/blog\/?p=664"},"modified":"2023-02-16T10:28:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T17:28:30","slug":"is-your-teenager-depressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/teen-depression-treatment\/is-your-teenager-depressed\/","title":{"rendered":"Is My Teenager Depressed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is your teenager irritable? Apathetic? Withdrawn?\u00a0 Does she sleep in, seemingly forever, on weekends? Does she express unhappiness and thoughts of death and dying?\u00a0 If so, how do you know if she\u2019s suffering from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/admissions\/\">depression<\/a> or just garden-variety teenage angst?\u00a0 Since the adolescent personality is, by definition, in flux, it can be difficult to distinguish normal adolescent behavior from more serious emotional disturbances\u2014so difficult, in fact, that mental health professionals often assign only tentative diagnoses or \u201cshows symptoms of\u201d descriptions to their teen patients.<\/p>\n<p>But this does not mean that teens cannot experience full-blown emotional disorders.\u00a0 Depression is a common emotional disorder that can carry uncommon consequences such as self-harm or suicide.\u00a0 It should, therefore, be treated immediately and seriously. As with many emotional disorders, however, it can show up differently in teens than in adults and may\u2014intentionally or unintentionally\u2014be masked or hidden.<\/p>\n<p>If your teen exhibits a combination of several of the following symptoms, she may be suffering from depression or a related problem.\u00a0 If you suspect your child might be suffering from an <a href=\"https:\/\/sunrisertc.com\/teen-learning-disabilities-and-emotional-problems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emotional problem<\/a> such as chronic depression (dysthymia), major depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder or any of the several types of depression, alert your mental health provider (preferably one with experience diagnosing and treating teens) immediately.<\/p>\n<h3>My teenager\u2026<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Seems drowsy all the time and\/or sleeps a lot<\/li>\n<li>Is constantly irritable and snappy<\/li>\n<li>Stays in her room or is otherwise withdrawn<\/li>\n<li>Avoids social situations<\/li>\n<li>Has difficult completing homework due to difficulty concentrating<\/li>\n<li>Expresses dark thoughts or obsesses about death and dying<\/li>\n<li>Speaks of suicide or violence<\/li>\n<li>Seems overly apologetic or guilt-ridden<\/li>\n<li>Is non-compliant or participates in illegal or rebellious behavior<\/li>\n<li>Has angry outbursts<\/li>\n<li>Experienced a sudden drop in grades<\/li>\n<li>Has lost interest in previously enjoyed activities<\/li>\n<li>Experiences physical aches and pains<\/li>\n<li>Is frequently fatigued<\/li>\n<li>Tears up or sighs frequently or otherwise expresses sadness<\/li>\n<li>Seems anxious or fearful<\/li>\n<li>Talks of or attempts suicide<\/li>\n<li>Skips school or work<\/li>\n<li>Seems lazy or irresponsible<\/li>\n<li>Experienced a rapid weight change (gain or loss)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is just a partial list and should not be considered a diagnostic tool, but just a list of possible warning signs.\u00a0 Depression can be confused with\u2014or accompanied by\u2014other disorders, so only your mental health professional should make a diagnosis.\u00a0 If, however, you suspect that your teen may be significantly or chronically depressed, visit your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/team-therapeutic.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mental health provider<\/a> immediately.\u00a0 If your child expresses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embarkbh.com\/blog\/ask-a-therapist-what-should-i-do-if-my-teen-is-having-suicidal-thoughts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thoughts of suicide<\/a>, a desire to die (even spoken in passing) or makes a suicidal gesture or attempt, take it seriously\u2014now. Call a suicide hot line 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) or 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)\u2014or the deaf hot line at 1-800-799-4TTY (1-800-799-4889) and contact your own mental health provider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is your teenager irritable? Apathetic? Withdrawn?  Does she sleep in, seemingly forever, on weekends? Does she express unhappiness and thoughts of death and dying?  If so, how do you know if she\u2019s suffering from depression or just garden variety teenage angst? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":10563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[39,87,88,89,90,47,91],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18519,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions\/18519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newhavenrtc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}