Home | Health | Diseases And Conditions | Depression

Depression In Teens - What To Look For

By: Sarah McCurdy Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Clinical depression can affect teenagers just as easily as adults and is a very serious illness. Depression has an impact on how we think, feel, behave, and our health in general. This illness continues to be more common in teens as their lives become more stressful as approximately 5 out of every 100 teens suffers from depression.

Individuals can suffer from two different types of depression. When a person feels sad or down most of the time, they have what is called major depression. With bipolar disorder, you feel sad and down at times but at other times you will feel excited and reckless. When someone starts to have these symptoms regularly, help must be sought-after immediately from a counselor, psychologist, or even a family member.

Unfortunately, most teens do not get the help they require and when untreated, depression can get worse. The good news is that most folks can be helped if they get the right treatment. So, how do you recognize if you or a loved one is suffering from clinical depression?

Some Signs Of Clinical Depression

The person feels sad, guilty for no good reason, cries more than normal, and feels tired and restless the bulk of the time. Sleep patterns can also shift resulting in sleeping long hours or conversely, not getting enough sleep. Another symptom is that eating habits will shift as the person will begin eating more or they will lose their appetite.

The child can feel that nothing good ever occurs or that nothing good will ever happen again and life appears hollow. This leads to feeling negative about everything or a loss of feelings.

Maybe the activities that you liked or brought you happiness no longer bring these feelings. Things such as music, sports, or even just going out and doing things with your friends or family. Instead of doing these things, you now feel like being alone and not being bothered. Little things annoy you and you over react and lose your temper unexpectedly.

These are merely a few of the signs of depression and as mentioned earlier, if you or someone you know has these feelings regularly, please seek help. There are alternatives out there including counseling but at least tell somebody close to you that you or somebody you love needs help and has a problem.