Teenage Depression Statistics

Various studies have been conducted on teenage depression statistics, which have been used to determine the causes of teenage depression. These statistics are vital in determining the reasons for this form of depression and also the solutions for the same. When these statistics on teen depression were studies, the results were sobering as these studies indicated that almost one in five children or teenagers had some sort of mental, behavioral, or emotional problem. It was also shown through these statistics that the one in ten also had a serious emotional problem.

It was seen that in adolescents at least one in eight teens suffered from depression. But the sad truth is that amongst these children, who were struggling with emotional and behavioral problems, only 30% had been given any sort of intervention or treatment. The remaining 70% teens had been simply left to struggle through the pain of mental illness or emotional turmoil as they made their way to adulthood. The results of these untreated depression also kept on increasing due to incidence of depression in adulthood.

As adults such individual had serious involvement in the criminal justice system and there were also cases, where they had committed suicide. Amongst teenagers these days, suicide has been considered as the third leading cause of death among and this is also the sixth leading cause of death among children who are not yet teenagers. One of the most troubling facts here is that teens, who are struggling from the problems of mental health, often receive no counseling or therapy. They are almost never given medical intervention in spite of these treatments of depression in children and adolescents being effective.

There are various statistics that also revealed that most parents simply do not recognize the symptoms of depression in their children and this also included the parents who had good communication with their children. Thus it is also vital for the parents to be particularly aware of the risk of depression in children. This is most commonly seen in the children who had some long-term or chronic illnesses or those who had been abused or neglected. Usually the teenagers or children with experience of a recent trauma or having lost a loved one were more prone to depression.

It has also been seen that the teenage girls are more prone to depression as compared to teenage boys. The suggestion here to deal with these problems are that parents should seek outside help if their adolescent seems to be experiencing negative emotional feelings like despair, sadness, hopelessness, or lack of interest in usual activities. Also the parents should also be concerned if their teen has shown a drop in academic performance or has been behaving rather strangely and stays aloof.

It should be remembered that most adolescents lack verbal skills like adults and thus they are not able to express what they are feeling. These signs are often reflected in their physical behavior and can be seen in situations like constant muscle aches, low energy, change in appetite or weight and other similar symptoms, which reflect signs of depression.

• Juliana Breckinridge
• 15/03/2009, 2:59 AM
• 0 Comments