Teen Depression

[Anonymous]

Anyone want to have a constructive conversation regarding actual clinical depression in teenagers?
(The other spinoff thread is more broadly "emotional needs.") In the relatively few (about 5) cases of teen clinical depression where I have some direct knowledge (no one knows everything of course), they're boys, their changes seemed to start around the age of 15, 3 had concussions, and none seemed to have the "Ivy or bust" mentality. In fact I'm not aware that AP courses were even part of their vocabulary. None were GT, AAP, CTY, TJ or any similar as far as I know. Nor were these kids bullied as far as I know. Constructive thoughts appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Two depressed teen boys I'm aware of had a parent with a long term serious illness or disease.

[Anonymous]

Real depression in teens is very scary. It is hard to tell the difference between normal moodiness and real depression, but the real thing is extremely frightening for a parent. And frustrating. I know several teens who are suffering from clinical depression. It is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

I know three families too. Usually starts when there is low self esteem and families that do not give them an outlet. They buckle when they reach 13-16 as kids form cliques and are unkind. I have seen cars where they turn to the virtual world because INITIALLY they are not judged and they hide behind a persona. But virtual chat rooms can turn to hate rooms too.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen depression after a concussion? I know 2 mothers who say they first noticed teen behavior differences after a head injury.

[Anonymous]

No I have not seen depression directly associated with concussion but depression could be a by product of accidents. Eg scarred looks and they become self conscious.

[Anonymous]

Interesting that the clinical depression cases I know of are not the "so stressed" high achieving high schoolers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know three families too. Usually starts when there is low self esteem and families that do not give them an outlet. They buckle when they reach 13-16 as kids form cliques and are unkind. I have seen cars where they turn to the virtual world because INITIALLY they are not judged and they hide behind a persona. But virtual chat rooms can turn to hate rooms too.

??

[Anonymous]

I think we also have to consider family stability. In some cases, it can be attibuted to parental marriage break-ups, even several years after that may have happened.

[Anonymous]

My son has anxieties and is at risk for depression.

He did some therapy when he was 9 to understand stress, recognize how it feels and learn to deal with it.

Summers are amazing.
August I will see some signs of stress.
September is fine.
October my son begins to get stressed, you can see signs of depression.
By the end of the 1st marking period he is usually handling the stess okay.
Christmas time hits and all is good.
It is February and things are bad, but with the end in sight we are staying positive.
His grades will suffer over the next few months because it seems very overwhelming. I will give him a day off school here and there to catch up on missed assignments.
By spring he is doing better, happy the end is in sight.
Teachers will load up on work because they realize that they are behind. May is crazy. We will miss a day or two so he can get all his work done.
June, glorious .... summer. All summer, he is happy and healthy. Around the end of August he will start to show some signs of stress.

Rinse / repeat.

Sometimes I go to his room, he has his head deep in a science/history/english assignment. I realize his has tears in his eyes. I let him skip the assignment or we go for a walk.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read the other thread. But I had depression in my late teens. I think it was due to family troubles. The adults in my life were not there - one physically and one mentally/emotionally. I saw the school nurse regularly, but no-one actually helped me. It affected me from the age of around 15 to 19. I just grew out of it by that stage. Touch wood, I have never had another bout of depression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has anxieties and is at risk for depression.

He did some therapy when he was 9 to understand stress, recognize how it feels and learn to deal with it.

Summers are amazing.
August I will see some signs of stress.
September is fine.
October my son begins to get stressed, you can see signs of depression.
By the end of the 1st marking period he is usually handling the stess okay.
Christmas time hits and all is good.
It is February and things are bad, but with the end in sight we are staying positive.
His grades will suffer over the next few months because it seems very overwhelming. I will give him a day off school here and there to catch up on missed assignments.
By spring he is doing better, happy the end is in sight.
Teachers will load up on work because they realize that they are behind. May is crazy. We will miss a day or two so he can get all his work done.
June, glorious .... summer. All summer, he is happy and healthy. Around the end of August he will start to show some signs of stress.

Rinse / repeat.

Sometimes I go to his room, he has his head deep in a science/history/english assignment. I realize his has tears in his eyes. I let him skip the assignment or we go for a walk.

This brings tears to my eyes. One question: can he be a kid who needs sunshine, warm weather or just being outside? Do increased recesses help?

[Anonymous]

In my experience, depression is like a lot of other medical illnesses -- one is predisposed genetically. Stress and anxiety may trigger depression, or not. But teens who are depressed may simply come from families at increased risk for depression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, depression is like a lot of other medical illnesses -- one is predisposed genetically. Stress and anxiety may trigger depression, or not. But teens who are depressed may simply come from families at increased risk for depression.

So how does that translate to getting the teen help? (Don't know whether a depressed parent would be more or less empathetic--I suppose every situation is different?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son has anxieties and is at risk for depression.

He did some therapy when he was 9 to understand stress, recognize how it feels and learn to deal with it.

Summers are amazing.
August I will see some signs of stress.
September is fine.
October my son begins to get stressed, you can see signs of depression.
By the end of the 1st marking period he is usually handling the stess okay.
Christmas time hits and all is good.
It is February and things are bad, but with the end in sight we are staying positive.
His grades will suffer over the next few months because it seems very overwhelming. I will give him a day off school here and there to catch up on missed assignments.
By spring he is doing better, happy the end is in sight.
Teachers will load up on work because they realize that they are behind. May is crazy. We will miss a day or two so he can get all his work done.
June, glorious .... summer. All summer, he is happy and healthy. Around the end of August he will start to show some signs of stress.

Rinse / repeat.

Sometimes I go to his room, he has his head deep in a science/history/english assignment. I realize his has tears in his eyes. I let him skip the assignment or we go for a walk.

This brings tears to my eyes. One question: can he be a kid who needs sunshine, warm weather or just being outside? Do increased recesses help?

Yes. I do believe that to be true. We will probably look at colleges in warm climates. Though this pattern of school related stress October, February, May is well documented for kids like him. He is very sporty so he plays sports year round. He is outdoors every day (even during a Polar Vortex), we take hikes in the evening if we can and on the weekends if he does not have sports.

We put him in a school with lots of recess and sports. We are hoping to move to a school that is a little less stessful (though his current school is amazing) and has more support in place. He is smart so it is fine balance between selling him short and providing too much of a challenge.