Depression in Adolescence

Adolescence marks the emergence of internalizing problems, which are defined as the emotional conditions that surface when an individual begins to turn problems inward where they take them out on themselves (Santrock, 2016, p. 437). Two of the most commonly noted examples of internalizing problems are anxiety and depression. Anxiety is best described as a future-oriented emotion, characterized by perceptions of both uncontrollability and unpredictability over potentially aversive events, causing one to feel fearful and apprehensive (Wicks-Nelson & Israel, 2015, p. 110). While defining depression is more complex in that it is a slightly more subjective experience, it is generally characterized as the experience of a pervasive unpleasant mood (Wicks-Nelson & Israel, 2015, p. 147). Important to consider is that anxiety and depression are often comorbid, meaning that they exist simultaneously within an individual. Understanding these internalizing symptoms in adolescence is a complex task, which provides a foundation for the present paper.

The patient is a thirteen year old female diagnosed with depression/ depression NOS. She is in the hospital for attempting to kill herself by stabbing her stomach with a knife. She had been there for almost a week when the assessment was conducted. Hand off states she sees things in the shadows (visual hallucinations), and she was molested by her thirty year old cousin and sodomised by her neighbor when she was four. Her home situation is not a therapeutic one, her and one of her mother’s fights constantly, and see feels her mother is two faced and she cannot talk to this mother about her feelings. The patient is very shy, and just wants to draw ninja turtles, but through therapeutic communication and observation she began to open up. She is dressed appropriate for the weather, and has a good understanding of advance vocabulary, but does go off on her own to look outside a lot. The full assessment can be found in the appendix at the end of the paper. The aim of this study is to describe priority nursing diagnoses, outcomes, and interventions, tests, labs and medications for this patient, the patient’s diagnosis according to the DSM-V and then examine a nursing article that relates to this patient.

Developing depressive disorders in adolescence is common all around the world, but often goes unrecognized. It is widely accepted in America that teens in poverty are at higher risk than any other members of the social strata for being distressed and ultimately, are prone to increased psychological destruction compared to their social peers. Nationwide research has continually demonstrated that low income is a prominent stimulant of stress as well as behavioral, psychological, and emotional crises. Depression leads to the deteriorating of life quality, and impairs societal functioning. The burdens which depressive disorders are associated with is elevated among low and middle income families. These specific social classes increase risks for

This paper researches the possible causes and mechanisms of Major Depressive Disorder amongst adolescents age 15 to 24. It’s widely believed to be a mixture of an imbalance of neurotransmitters and chemicals in the brain, psychological trauma or abuse from the past, and hereditary chromosomal similarities. There are several possible ways to attempt to fix this problem including; an implant that regulates the level of chemicals in the brain, therapy and psychological counseling, or identifying and modifying chromosomes.

Data gathered from responses to a popular personality test called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI for short, and analyzed by researchers from five different universities shows that there is as many as five times the number of teenagers suffering from anxiety and depression as there were in the early twentieth century. The exact cause of the sharp incline in identified mental disorders amongst our youth is still yet unknown. In order to curtail the escalating numbers we must identify the underlying issues that result in these troubling mindsets.

In the August of 2014 edition of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology the article “Stress Sensitivity Interacts with Depression History to Predict Depressive Symptoms among Youth: Prospective Changes Following First Depressive Onset” (Technow, J., Hazel, N., Abela, J., & Hankin, B. ,2015), was published citing a study that was conducted about how stress influences depression and the predictors of depressive symptoms. Research before this particular study showed that twenty-to-twenty-five percent of women and ten-to-seventeen percent of men experience major depression in their lifetimes. As research continued, it was found that fifty-to-sixty percent of people who experienced a first depressive episode went on to have a second one. Then

The subject of my research is Depression, which is an illness that affect most of the teens in the United States and worldwide. Although I have family members who have been experiencing depression including me, I did not know that this horrible feeling can catch adolescents specifically that period called puberty. Puberty is the most critical period where the child has a transition into adolescent and it is characterized for a mixture of changes in behaviors, moodiest. One of the most dangerous is Depression. My 12 years old daughter was diagnosed with Severe Depression.

The period of teens is usually used to describe the stage between childhood and adulthood, which is defined as the establishment of the onset of puberty, around age 11 to 13 years (Edelman 515). Many researchers and developmental professionals in the United States use the age span 10 to 24 years as a working definition of adolescence, and this adolescence period talk about to the psychosocial, emotional, cognitive, and moral changes from childhood to young adulthood, while puberty refers to the development and maturation of the reproductive, endocrine, and structural processes that lead to fertility (Edelman 515).Depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is a serious mood disorder which causes and affect how one feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working. The symptoms are required existing for at least two weeks in order to be diagnosed.

Before there was a name for depression, there was melancholia. Melancholia is an outdated term that was defined as “a mental condition marked by persistent depression and ill-founded fears”. Depression has always been prevalent but as a society we haven’t always had, and still don’t have, a complete understanding of it. The symptoms have seemed to remain constant over time: perpetual sadness, lethargy, loss of interest, and self-harm. Depression or melancholia was initially associated with possession by the devil and recognition of adolescent depression was nonexistent. Early treatments included: shock therapy, beatings, starvation, special diets, exercise, and natural remedies. Melancholia was also believed to be an “unchangeable weakness of temperament”, this lead to many affected people being institutionalized or shunned. Fortunately, we have gained a much better understanding of depression and depression treatment. We also understand that adolescent depression is a real epidemic that is having a massive impact on our society and on the individuals who are suffering. More than 20% of teens are diagnosed with depression and a large percent of adolescent depression goes undiagnosed. Adolescent depression can be highly treatable when they receive competent care and support. Early efficacious treatment can also prevent prevention in the future, improve

The majority of the literature reviewed had a similar consensus that the prevalence and risk factors associated with adolescent depression are a common problem worldwide. In a longitudinal study in Sweden, Wirback, Moller, Larsson, Galanti, and Engstrom (2014) examined whether multiple measures of low social status of the family are longitudinally associated with depressive symptoms in adolescence and whether or not there is a difference among genders. A total of 1880 adolescents in Sweden, self-reported their depressive symptoms by utilizing a 12-item inventory survey (Wirback et al., 2014). The study found that there is an increased risk of depression among adolescents whose parents has low education, were unskilled workers, intermediate non-manual workers or self-employed, compared to parents with higher education and high non-manual work (Wirback et al., 2014). There was also an increased (tripled) risk of depression among adolescents living with only one parent. In regards to gender differences, there was a higher risk for girls whose parents are low-educated or girls that were living with only one parent are especially vulnerable (Wirback et al., 2014). Overall, social factors does have a huge impact on the risk of adolescent depression, thus continued work is needed to reduce inequalities in depressive symptoms.

Depression a word we’re familiar with especially when it comes to adults, we know adults get depress and we understand the reasons, with the high demands in life it’s not uncommon to get lost in the shuffle. Depression in adult is something we have known for many years, but what has surprised many of us is that adolescents also get depressed. I myself still don’t fully understand the reasons why or how this happens. I see it very often adolescent coming in to the ER because they are depressed and want to hurt themselves, and each and every single time I’m shock. What could be so bad in their lives that would make them think they have no way out? This is the reason why I choice this topic, I want to learn more of how this disease affects so many children and teens and what we can do to stop it.

Only in the past two decades, have depression and suicide been taken seriously. Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood and thoughts. Depression affects the way a person eats and sleeps, feels about themselves, and the way they think of the things around them. It comes as no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Teen suicide has more than tripled since the 1960's (Santrock, 2003). Despite this alarming increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is largely under-diagnosed and can lead to serious difficulties in school,

"I'm just a kid. I'm scared, and my life is a nightmare. I mean, what if I never get my life together" I found this in one of my closest friends notebook. As soon as I saw this, I was willing to do anything that was possible to find out what was causing her to feel that way. I needed to now why she was cared. Why was her life a nightmare. I needed to stop her from feeling that way. As I rambled through this subject, I found out that teen depression is a serious medical problem that causes an intense feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how teens feel and behave. However, there is no single known cause of adolescent depression, yet there are multiple possibilities as to why a teenager might become depressed. The

Who has not, at some time or another, said, “I am depressed?” It is a line that slips off the tongue of people all too readily when they are bored or unhappy. But most people, when they say that, do not mean that they are clinically depressed, possibly wanting or needing treatment. Sadness is unpleasant but it is not as bad as depression. When people are sad, they keep their self-respect and they feel better after a good cry or a talk with a friend. When people are depressed, self-respect fades, crying does not help at all, and people who are depressed feel alienated around others because they feel like no one understands what they are going through (Brenton 67).

Susanna Schrobsdorff claims in her informative essay “Teen Depression and Anxiety: Why the Kids Are Not Alright” that social media is one of the most constant pressures that increase depression and anxiety within teenagers. The pressure of their peers and the pressure they put on themselves can cause the overwhelming sense of emotion that many teens with these disorders are feeling. Because technology has become such an influence on the lives of teenagers within the past decade, the increase in depression and anxiety has risen. Teenagers are becoming more aware of the world around them and the situations that many others go through, and find it hard to separate what they see online from the lives they live and the emotions they feel in their own lives. It becomes difficult to separate their lives from the influences, both positive and negative, of others they view online. Though social media is the biggest influencer in the increase of depression and anxiety, other factors such as stress from school and feeling the inability to express their emotions verbally can have an influence on depression. Schrobsdorff notes that there is a mixing of many influences that cause teens to resort to self-harm or wanting to shut away from people. She alludes to the idea that parents need to have a larger presence within their children's lives to notice the emotions and changes within their children to be able to sense these disorders and stop the effects before more violence occurs.