Teenagers often experience a number of physical and hormonal changes that can cause them to behave differently. It’s hard to see signs of depression in teenagers, but it is important to stay vigilant. Mental illnesses are on the rise among teenagers and you might worry about your child. Below are a few signs to watch out for in your teens.
What Causes Teen Depression?
Parents, you may wonder, “Is my son or daughter depressed or this a normal part of being a teenager?” Use the information below as a guide for if these are the ups and downs many teens experience or if further help is indicated.
Remember that if you are unsure, it’s always a good idea to seek the advice of your pediatrician or another mental health professional. If your child is showing any signs of harming themselves or others, go to the nearest emergency room, call 911, or get other help right away.
The teenage years are a volatile time with many mood changes, emotional swings, and hormonal ups and downs. (I’m sure you remember this from your own teen years!) Add to that the pressures that teens face today with school, social media, and world events, and it’s understandable that teenagers experience depression.
If your teen is experiencing depression, it doesn’t mean you have done anything wrong as a parent. However, it is important to seek help for depressed teens and young adults so they can get the help they need to feel better.
This article is not intended as medical advice. Consult a medical or mental health professional.
Teen Depression: Warning Signs for Parents
Here are the warning signs that your teen is depressed for moms and dads to consider.
1. Changes in Grades or School Performance
One of the most noticeable signs of depression in teenagers is a sudden decline in school grades or their academic performance. Depression can make you feel tired and impacts how your brain works. It takes longer for your brain to recall information, for example. It can also make you feel sad or irritable, making it harder to focus on school work.
This can lead to your teen’s grades dropping and them spending less time in sports or extracurricular activities. If your youth is having trouble at school with behavior/work, this could be a sign of something else wrong with your teen’s mental health.
2. Loss of Interest in Hobbies and Activities
Signs of depression can manifest in different ways, but for many young adults it’s with a lack of interest in activities that used to bring them joy. Clinical depression can also cause sufferers to have a decreased ability to feel emotional pleasure from things they once loved. Finding enjoyment from new, different things is also tough, but will eventually become easier with treatment.
This can lead to cutting off friendships, extra curricular activities, or other commitments in life.
If your child has uncharacteristically dropped an activity that they were deeply committed to, it may be a sign that they’re struggling mentally and shutting themselves off from others. They may even start avoiding social settings and the once-closest friends due to feeling socially distressed.
Some adolescents who are dealing with mental illness may cut off their closest loved ones, stop going to activities and isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Sometimes they lose motivation to do things they used to enjoy and at other times it has something to do with their own insecurities.
3. Participation in High Risk Behavior
High-risk behaviors can be an indication of depression in teens. This might include things like smoking, risky social media use, sexting, and doing dangerous activities which makes them more likely to suffer from physical injuries.
It’s often hard to distinguish between normal, high-risk behavior in teens and abnormal, high-risk behavior stemming from a mental illness, like depression. Taking the time to learn the signs can help you get your loved one the support they need.
If you think your teen might be experiencing depression, don’t jump to conclusions based on one sign. Make sure to pay attention to the individual as well. Figure out what’s “normal” for them and what seems abnormal.
4. Changes in Sleep
A symptom of depression in teens is a change in sleep schedule. If they are tired all the time, it might be because your teen is depressed and you need to seek treatment for them.
Research has shown that irregular sleeping patterns can be a sign of mental health trouble for teens. In particular, the inability to sleep is often a symptom of depression and other conditions.
5. Rapid Mood Changes
One of the hardest features to identify in teens is drastic mood changes. During their teen years, it’s normal for teenagers to go from happy to sad quickly or vice versa. It can be difficult deciphering whether the mood change is a normal teen phenomenon or something less significant that requires medical attention.
Teenager outbursts aren’t always a sign of larger mental illness, but are sometimes due to circumstantial events. If your teenager experiences some of the other symptoms on this list, its worth getting evaluated. Look at the whole picture and decide if the mood changes fit into a bigger pattern that may signal being depressed.
6. Eating Habits That Change
Eating patterns, like eating too much or too little, can be one of the earliest signs that a teen is depressed. If your teen is struggling with eating habits, then bringing it up to them might only make the situation worse since it could just end up making them feel like their eating habits are even more scrutinized.
People with depression often habitually use food for comfort. As a result, it can lead to weight gain. Eating less from lack of interest in food can also be a sign of depression. This can result in a lower-than-normal weight, which may cause problems of its own.
Depression can lead to serious eating disorders such as Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. If your teen has these symptoms it’s important to get help because otherwise their health and well-being will continue to deteriorate and the consequences can be severe.
7. Unexplained Body Aches and Illnesses with No Known Cause
When teens have symptoms that are difficult to identify medically and are unexplainable, it’s worth considering that they may be depressed. Inexplicable headaches, muscle soreness, or stomach aches are signs of this.
These symptoms typically go unnoticed, but it’s important to look at the bigger picture to see if this points to a mental health issue. If your teen has headaches or physical pains which are uncommon and without any clear source, it could be a symptom of depression.
One study reported by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) and reported on by Healthline.com found that about 11 percent of people with mental health disorders had migraine attacks that preceded them.
Some of the changes that happen during puberty could include headaches and other aches in the body, so it’s important to identify the culprit and not jump to conclusions. If your teenager has been to the doctor for headaches or body pains and there doesn’t seem to be a reason (fever, infection, recent injury), you should think about other signs that could be causing their pain, like depression or anxiety.
Sometimes it’s not easy to tell if a young person is depressed. Use this list of teenage depression warning signs to determine if your child needs help from a mental health professional. When it doubt, it’s a good idea to seek treatment.
Click here for a free PDF printable checklist of the 7 steps to take when your child needs residential treatment.
Leave a Reply