Teenage Depression--How it can be Detected

Modern society has become a veritable fertile ground for mental disorders. Each person is living a fast-paced life. We do not have enough time to build strong relationships, thus, we end up spending much of our time in isolation. Compounded by the stress that develops from this type of lifestyle, isolation leads to a syndrome called major depression. One common misconception is that depression is experienced only by adults. Nowadays, we have such a thing called teenage depression.

Recent studies have shown that there are about equal amount of adults and teenagers that are depressed. However, depressed teenagers are often stay undetected because the criteria for depressed adults are used to evaluate them. What has been found out is that depressed teenagers exhibit different symptoms from the adult's dejection, sadness, negative self-image and hopelessness. Teenage depression can be considered a different condition from adult depression.

How, then, do teenagers express their depression? Depressed teenagers are characterized by being antisocial: they withdraw from social activities and family endeavors and prefer to stay locked up in their room. They feel that they are not understood and appreciated by the people around them. Thus, they would like to escape everything, expressed as a desire to leave the home or as constant and continuous changing of personality and environment. They can become restless, violent, moody and bad-tempered. They lack concentration, and therefore do badly in school work. There can also be a lack of concern and attention to appearance and grooming. In most cases, they are increasingly sensitive to rejection in relationships, since they have very low self esteem. They can be attracted to using alcohol and drugs to escape their depression.

The aggression and hostility of male teenagers can lead to them rebelling and causing trouble at home, at school, and even with the law. On the other hand, female teenagers become increasingly pensive with thoughts of death, and they cease to pay attention to others and their selves. Ultimately, depression will usher a desire to end life and commit suicide. There are studies that estimate attempted suicides at around 500,000 teenagers per year, with 5,000 leading to death.

Another reason that depression in teenagers remains undetected is that these symptoms are considered "growing up pains" by some parents and relatives. Parents do not recognize their child's depression and become frustrated and angry at how their child is acting. Most times, parents can worsen the situation and increase their child's depression by lecturing them and trying to impose discipline. Some just watch as these changes in their child occur, and expect that everything will disappear and resolve itself once the teenager reaches adulthood.

There is a lack of public information that the manifestations of teenage depression are not natural phenomena that every person must go through. If a teenager appears depressed, then this is a serious condition that must be given immediate attention. Do not simply wait out for the depression to settle. For more information on how to deal with depression in teenagers, please visit http://freearticlesearch.net.