James Donaldson on Mental Health – Depression Test for Teens

Depression is a common mental health challenge in teenagers and even in some children. It can be hard to spot because teenagers are typically moody and because depression can look different in teens and kids than it does in adults.

The biggest sign of depression is a change in mood. A depressed teen will feel sad or irritable for no reason and lose interest in things they normally enjoy. These changes will last at least two weeks. Other symptoms include being easily annoyed, feeling hopeless, trouble concentrating, trouble making decisions, struggling in school, low self-esteem, having trouble talking to friends, and thinking about or attempting suicide.

Since children, and especially teens, do not always share how they are feeling — or may even go out of the way to hide how they are feeling — it can be hard for parents to identify depression. But some signs of depression are visible. Physical signs include a change in eating habits, a change in weight, a change in sleeping habits, having low energy, spending a lot of time alone, and seeming listless or lazy.

The key to spotting depression in teens and preteens is to be alert for changes in behavior. For example: being irritable when they are typically easygoing, getting into fights or breaking rules at school when they've never done that, becoming highly sensitive to mistakes or criticism, withdrawing from things they used to enjoy, and frequent stomachaches and headaches.

It's common for a teenager to struggle with both anxiety and depression. Scientists think it may be because the regions of the brain affected by anxiety and depression are close together, and mutually affected. If a teenager has both anxiety and depression, it's important to seek professional help for both disorders. Untreated, they lead to serious problems, including self-injury, substance abuse, and suicidal thinking.

Depression can only be diagnosed by a mental health or medical professional. To make the diagnosis, the clinician will speak to the teen, family members, and other adults in the teen's life. To be diagnosed with major depressive disorder, a teenager must be depressed most of the time for at least two weeks and have several of the symptoms listed above.