How Can Parents’ Identify Early Signs Of Depression Among Teenagers?
Melancholic brooding depressed state of mind with irritability languor, lethargy, procrastination and stereotype attitude are early symptoms of teenaged depressions.
Strictly speaking, depression is not a particular diseases but a complex morbid syndrome consisting vague confusing symptoms of varied diseases and other syndromes.Depression is set of negative feelings comprising of self-worthlessness, melancholy, despair, hopelessness irritability and lethargy.These feeling have episodic occurrences and are roller coaster in their nature, sometimes giving way to false euphoria and laughing type non sense attitude and at other times persisting for long times.These negative feelings or pessimistic attitude of life greatly interfere with the daily working of teenagers.Depression may be defined as a mental disorder when feelings of worthlessness, inadequacies, and hopelessness start dominating a person’s life and persist for long time or are episodic/ periodical in nature and when these feelings start interfering with teenager’s ability to work or behave in positive manner.
The one major sign of depression among teenagers is unresolved grief or “silent grief” in the psyche of the child.The unresolved grief is just like unresolved carbuncle whose toxicity has potential to cause septicemia or blood poisoning of circulatory system causing death of the person.
Teenage girls are especially at high risk and vulnerable to these causes and eventually to depression; as their psyche is more delicate, in stable, super sensitive, hysterical and is subjected to grief, sorrow, secret tears and hiding.If the parents find frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying and sobbing spells in the daughter and their efforts to solace the girl and ask for reason aggravates the teenaged pessimistic condition, than further inquiry into the hiding behavior of the girl must be made to ascertain the real cause.In most cases it is the abandoned and disappointed love affair.The rejection in love most probably sends the romantic and hysterical natured girls into depression.The parents if frequently find the sighing behavior taking long breadth of the girl with signs of sadness on her face than it is also good sign of depression.The involuntary tearfulness with sobbing and sighing is a true sign of depression in teens.
Sometimes, the girl is so obsessed with love affair and love feelings that constant lingering vague fear of rejection may also trigger depression attack.The silent brooding and dwelling on grief is great indication of depression among teenaged girls.The tearfulness grouped with secretiveness is sure sigh of depression.Sooner or later it is bound to lead to anorexia mentalis with more decided signs of anxiety and depression with loss of hunger and weight.Many a time the behavior of depressed children and teenagers displays some type of behavioral disorders in the form of disobedience, rudeness, impertinence, violence of speech, vehemence ,rage and fury, aggressiveness, destructiveness, Contrariness, capriciousness etc.Parents must look for any signs of stereotype or eccentric behavior in he child.Any sudden odd change in the behavior of behavior of depressed children and teenagers must be noted.The child’s preoccupation with music must be looked into, especially if he or she constantly and repeatedly listens to one sad and tragic song.The teenagers’ new fixed craze for something must be paid attention to
Look for the changed attitude of teenagers for life.Is there any change of teenager in his or her outlook of life and events of world? Has he or she not started looking at world from pessimistic and negative attitude full of despair and dejection? The feelings of worthlessness, nothingness, and hopelessness have not made dent in to his or her psyche? The teens may feel the life is not worth living or sustaining or may become indifferent to personal appearance, cleanliness and hygiene.The indifferent attitude full of apathy is precursor of depression.When hope of life starts giving way to despair of life; this changed outlook is starting point of depression.
Decreased interest in favorite hobbies, activities; or inability to enjoy previously favorite activities may also point to depression.
The depressed teen may shut off himself/herself from all his social activities and friendly circle.Nothing seems to fascinate his attraction and he or she is lost in brooding and abstraction of mind.The feeling of boredom and ennui has started constantly haunting his mind and he is not ease with anything.There is capricious state of mind in which he/she does not know what he wishes.He or she wishes to perform one thing or the other but persists in none.There is an unseen peculiar restlessness in his mind and behavior.Lack of motivational derives and lowered energy level gives way to languor and lethargy.The teen has started missing his classes and house hold duties and started taking any depressing drugs of his own or have started taking narcotic drugs in bad company.
In depression the positive emotions are so depressed, the victim starts to be hesitant to mix with people and friends of which once he was very fond of.There is deep sense of “isolation and alienation” in his mind.Teens may avoid family gatherings, social gatherings, friendly gatherings and social events.Teens that used to spend a lot of time with friends with different orgies may now spend most of their time alone and without interests with secluded, lonely brooding mood and temper.This loneliness, aloofness and shell like shutting or protection of self from outside influences is great indication of depressed mind and depression.
The teen may start thinking like,” there is none in the world for him to care and nurture and he is alone, all are self driven and no true love relationship exists in world”.They may go into a delusion of desertedness separateness
Depression very easily gives to irritability of temper, especially he or she becomes very irritable in the morning after awaking.The depressed teens become very depressed and irritable.His nerves may be no edge.The teenager’s sensitivities and sensibilities are highly increased and decreased becoming hyper sensitive or dulled and apathetic.He or she takes everything in bad part and starts suspecting everyone around him as his or her enemy.Negative feelings of suspicion about himself and others totally overwhelm his or her psyche.He starts doubting his own competence and capabilities and there is great fear of failure.He does not undertake anything new haunted by fear of failure and insult.Postponing things and procrastination becomes is way of life in each and everything to be accomplished.All these are early signals of depression.
In the end the teen may develop very low self esteem and inferiority complex loosing all his self confidence.He or she may start fearing appearing in examinations and may miss examination because of that fear of failure.
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