Www Teen Depression

Q: Anyone know a good source for info on teen depression? Or does anyone have any good articles about this ?

A:... Resources on. Teen Depression. Also visit Teen Suicide. Click here to find out if your child is at-risk, displaying self-destructive behaviors, and needs your ... Description: Resources and information on depression in teens and in families, including research articles and... http://www.focusas.com/Depression.html This is a place for teens to come together and talk about depression. I have made this page because I have not found another page that focuses on teenage depression although it is a real problem. I myself am 14 years old and depressed. I have put a message board in which we can all post and help each other. Please feel free to post on it. Also feel free to e-mail me, there is a link to email me with to the left. http://www.geocities.com/pood_72581/ Every parent worries about the future of his or her child. Parents of a depressed teen-ager are likely to be even more concerned -- and they should be, according to new research. "Having a depressive episode as a teen more than doubled the risk of having another depressive episode in young adulthood," says Ian H. Gotlib, PhD, co-author of the study. The study also found that only about one in four people who had been diagnosed with depression as teens said they remained free of psychiatric illness in early adulthood. "As a general rule of thumb, depression in adolescence seems to be underdiagnosed and underappreciated," says Robert L. Findling, MD, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who commented on the study for WebMD. "We are quite aware that this is a malignant and potentially lethal disorder. The leading cause of death in young people is suicide. But the earlier the disorder is caught, the less malignant it is, just like any disorder in medicine. "There's a lack of appreciation that depression is a dysregulation of mood, just as diabetes is a dysregulation of blood sugar," Findling says. "We see youngsters with profound disturbances in function who suffer needlessly because parents or other well-meaning adults say it's part of being a teen-ager or it's just a phase." Depression should be distinguished from common sadness, says Gotlib: "Some warning signs are loss of interest, sadness, fatigue, concentration difficulties, sleep disturbances, and appetite problems that last for at least two weeks." But, he cautions, "it's important not to overreact if you see sadness for a few days in an adolescent." Serious, scientific examinations of childhood depression have been rare until relatively recently, says Jeffrey T. Kirchner, DO, director of the family practice residency program at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pa. Kirchner and some colleagues gathered together what literature exists on the subject, and published a review of it in the Nov. 15 issue of the journal American Family Physician. That

review confirms that children and adolescents indeed experience a spectrum of mood disorders, says Kirchner, who also teaches medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia. But even though childhood depression is now acknowledged to be a significant problem, "It's something that's still not talked about much, something that many people -- even physicians -- are not either aware of or tuned into," he tells WebMD. As with adults, genes may play a part in a child's depression, says Kirchner. However, by school age, children are also vulnerable to life stressors like family conflict, divorce, criticism, school troubles, and confusion about sexual orientation.