Adolescent Depression. Definition, Causes, Treatments.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Psychology - Diagnostics, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: As adults, when we think back to our childhood, many of us remember this period in our lives as a ¿happy¿ time, free from the stresses and worries that accompany adulthood. The reality of the matter is that many children do experience stress and anxiety, similar to that of adults and this can, and often does result in children and adolescents in particular, experiencing mild to severe depression. According to Gerali (2009), depression is one of the most common issues that adolescents deal with and it affects teenagers regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status. It is quite normal for peoples¿ mood to change during the course of a day, and many experience mood changes from hour to hour, but when those moods become completely overwhelming and all consuming or fluctuate wildly, they may be indicative of some kind of mood disorder (McIntosh & Livingston, 2008). A depressed child will show characteristics similar to those of adults but there tends to be more self-blame, self-criticism and a generally poorer self-concept among teenagers who are experiencing depression (Jaenicke, Hammen, Zupan, Hiroto, Gordon, Adrian, & Burge , 1987). Symptoms of depression begin to increase around the time of puberty and are characterized by intense feelings of sadness and worthlessness, accompanied by a sense of futility resulting in withdrawal from social situations (Sue, Sue & Sue, 1997; Berk, 2000). During the course of this paper, I will focus on defining teenage depression, isolating the causes and predictive factors in conjunction with certain risk factors. Anxiety as a correlate of depression will be highlighted and two of the more common manifestations of depression, dysthymia and bipolar disorder will be outlined. Coexisting issues and the course of treatment will be addressed; ending with insight into suicide in adolescents. The point of departure needs to be a working concept of depression as it pertains to adolescents. (a) Definition Adolescence is defined as the period of development marked at the beginning by the onset of puberty and at the end by the attainment of physiological or psychological maturity. In Reber & Reber (2001), depression is defined in two categories: (1) Generally, a mood state characterized by a sense of inadequacy, a feeling of despondency, a decrease in activity or reactivity pessimism, sadness and related symptoms; (2) In Psychiatry...