Reply to Teen Depression

Forum Index » Tweens and Teens

Reply to "Teen Depression"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]How do you spot depression in a teenaged girl? My DD is a terribly moody thing, with an occasional crying fit, but it's fairly rare. I do have a family history of depression, so I'm worried, but I don't want to label her when maybe it's just teenage girl stuff. She's quite cheerful and happy much of the time, but suddenly will turn on a dime when something doesn't go her way (she didn't like the chicken last night, so sulked through dinner, then perked up and played with the dog after dinner). Other moms have told similar tales about their teenaged daughters, but others say theirs are not as moody as mine. What's the red flag? She has lots of friends, does well in school, we do lots of things together as a family, but have had some financial stress due to DH getting laid off recently (he found a job, thank God). I'd say our family has a normal amount of stress, but what worries me is the family history of depression. I've told DD about it, and asked her to tell me if anything's wrong, but there's never much of anything, and I don't see warning signs of drug/alcohol use, all of her friends are nice kids. Am I just a too anxious mom? Not worried, just wary and watching. [/quote]

I also think it sounds quite normal.  I had depression as a teen, and I just wasn't really there ... not motivated, wound't have shown signs of happiness - just didn't really feel anything.  The fact that she's cheerful and happy much of the time is really positive and would make me not worry too much.[/quote]

Thank you for posting this. I think she's OK, but with a family history of depression, I just never know if it will come out of the blue! In my case (in response to pps), my childhood depression was caused directly by family circumstances, plus I think there is a genetic link as well. DH comes from a crazy dysfunctional family with a history of depression too, but he's never been depressed. He gets down and unhappy now and then by life circumstances, but he's never cloaked with despair.

To the PP who mentions environment: I do think "environment" includes chemicals in the food, the home and workplace, hormones, as well as family friction, trauma, etc. Any of these can be a trigger for a genetic predisposition to depression. But I don't know if a gene for depression has been identified -- anyone know? It might help parents feel less guilt when their children suddenly become depressed for no obvious reason (trauma, for example). And might make it easier to pinpoint the chemical or other environmental trigger that causes the depression. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics