Recent Posts

How Long is Residential Treatment for Teens?

If your child is about to begin a stay at a residential treatment center, you’re bound to have a lot of questions. What types of therapy will be involved? Will our family be allowed to visit? And, of course, how long is a teen residential treatment program? In this...

Is Residential Treatment Considered Inpatient or Outpatient?

If you’ve never engaged with residential treatment centers before, it’s common to ask: is residential treatment considered inpatient or outpatient? Our residential teen treatment centers are considered inpantient because teens stay at our houses during the course of...

When to Choose Residential Treatment Over Other Treatment Programs

When seeking help for your teen, it’s important to know which mental health conditions can be treated by residential treatment. For teens suffering from mental health disorders, behavioral disorders, psychological disorders, or addiction issues, there are a variety of...

Does Insurance Cover Residential Treatment?

How Much Does Residential Treatment Cost? Cost of Residential Treatment The cost of residential treatment varies between each Residential Treatment Center (RTC). The spectrum of cost may range anywhere from free (this is very uncommon) to tens of thousands of dollars...

3% of Teens Identify as Transgender or Gender Nonconforming in America

How Many Transgender Teens Are There? Approximately 150,000 American teens (ages 13 to 17) identify as transgender in the United States today. Of course, there is no general age in which people typically “discover” or “come out” as transgender. Nonetheless, more and...

Social Anxiety in Teens: Signs, Symptoms, and How to Help

What is Social Anxiety? Social anxiety disorder (SAD) affects 1 out of 3 adolescents between 13 and 18 years old. Over 19 million people across America suffer from social anxiety disorder (SAD) today. It is the most common anxiety disorder and third most common mental...

Prevention of Teen Depression: Parent, Friend, and Support Tips

At any given time, one out of every five teenagers is experiencing major depression. If you are a parent to an adolescent or teenager, you are likely familiar with the moodiness inherent to this age group.  Mood swings are common, as teens are experiencing a vast...

How to Talk to Your Teen About Depression

Talking to your teen about depression can be a difficult and intimidating task. The adolescent and teenage years are some of the most difficult, due to the immense amount of changes going on in both the brain and the body.  These changes affect how teens think, learn,...

Managing Expectations With Your Adolescent

As a parent of an adolescent, your attitudes, actions, and beliefs can have a tremendous impact on your child’s well-being. Your teen is experiencing the challenging process of transitioning from childhood to adulthood and, as someone who has gone through this journey...

How to Know If Your Child Is Transgender

There is no simple test to tell if a child is transgender. Experts often refer to the idea of insistence, consistency, and persistence in terms of gauging whether a child is just going through a phase or not.  This means the more insistent a child is, and the longer...

What is A Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility?

A psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) provides out-of-home psychiatric care to children, adolescents, and young adults in a non-hospital, highly structured setting.  PRTF’s serve clients whose mental health needs require more intensive treatment than can...

What Causes Eating Disorders in Teenagers?

Identifying the Risk Factors: Causes, Signs & Symptoms of Teen Eating Disorders Eating disorders are complex and affect all different kinds of people. Although, adolescents and teenagers are more at risk. There is no one identified cause of teen eating disorders....

What Causes Mental Illness in Adolescence

Although it is often assumed that young people are more carefree than adults, their lives are full of emotional ups and downs. This is hugely evident in the statistics regarding adolescent and teen mental health, with as many as one out of every five adolescents and...

What Causes Thoughts of Self-Harm in Teens

What Is Self-Harm? Self-harm (sometimes called self-injury or self-mutilation) is the act of intentionally harming oneself in a physical manner. Self-harm is an expression of personal distress and often a coping mechanism. Self-harm is not a mental illness itself (but...

How To Treat Teen Depression (A Guide for Parents)

by Polaris Teen Center | Mar 22, 2019 | Depression, Resources, Treatment

It is very common for young people to experience occasional moodiness or periods of sadness. Yet with depression rates on the rise amongst adolescents and teenagers (approximately 12.5% of youth today have experience at least one major depressive episode), it is vital to distinguish between “the normal” mood changes and symptoms of depression. Common signs of depression in teens include:

  • Loss of interest in activities
  • Isolation from friends and/or family
  • Irritable mood most days of the week, for more than a couple of weeks
  • Changes in sleeping or eating habits
  • Loss of energy and increased feelings of lethargy
  • Drop in grades
  • Suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviors

Treatment Options

The first step to getting your teen the depression treatment they need is to have them assessed by a medical or mental health professional. Once a formal diagnosis of depression is made, treatment options can be discussed. Although treatment may look slightly different for everyone, a combination of psychotherapy and medication is often the first approach used.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy (also referred to as counseling or talk therapy) is where a mental health professional sits down with your teenager to talk about their depression. Through the process of psychotherapy your teen can discover the underlying causes and contributing factors to their depression, as well as:

  • Identifying unhealthy behaviors and/or thoughts
  • Learning healthier ways to cope with and manage the symptoms of their depression
  • Setting realistic short-term goals
  • Exploring relationships and experiences

While there are numerous approaches to psychotherapy, when it comes to depression, certain models have shown to be the most effective, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT). CBT can help teens better understand the connection between their thoughts and feelings, and how these things influence behavior. Through gaining this awareness, teens are able to then benefit from DBT, where they can learn ways to challenge their thoughts, cope with their feelings in healthier ways, and modify their behavior overall.

Medication

Many depressed teens benefit from taking medication, especially the more severe cases. There are many different categories of antidepressant medication, and each works to modify the way the brain processes the neurotransmitters that effect emotion regulation and mood, such as serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. The five major classes of antidepressants are:

  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) – SSRIs are the category of antidepressants known to have the least side effects, while still maintaining their effectiveness in treating the symptoms of depression. SSRIs work by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin in the brain.
  • Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs) – this class of antidepressants work in a similar way to SSRIs, except they inhinbit the reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine. SNRIs have shown particularly effective for depressed individuals who experience psychomotor retardation (the slow, lethargic feeling common to depression).
  • Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs) – TCAs, while commonly prescribed for adults, are rarely suggested for teens or young adults. TCAs usually are only brought on board for younger people if they are unresponsive to other antidepressants first.
  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) – some of the first antidepressant medications developed, MAOIs work to increase a person’s serotonin, which in turn helps regulate and elevate mood. MAOIs, while effective for many, also tend to have some serious side effects and drug/food interactions.
  • Atypical Antidepressants – this category of antidepressant is fairly new compared to the others. Atypical antidepressants affect norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine levels in the brain. Some common atypical antidepressants are Wellbutrin and Remeron.

Some parents may feel hesitant to put their teenager on medication for depression. Just like anything, there are pros and cons to using medication to treat depression, and it is important to know what these are, prior to making a decision about this treatment approach.  For many teens, antidepressants are effective in treating the difficult side effects of depression. Antidepressants have been shown to be effective in various ways including increased focus and attention, elevated mood, improved appetite and sleep patterns, decreased anxious and/or restless feelings (which often occur with depression), and decreased suicidal thoughts.

But just like most medications, antidepressants can have side effects. The general side effects tend to affect each person differently (in terms of severity, prevalence, etc.). Nonetheless, it is important for you and your teen to discuss the possible effects with a medical or mental health professional, prior to starting a course of antidepressants. Some general side effects include:

  • Dry mouth
  • Gastrointestinal issues (i.e. – constipation)
  • Dizziness
  • Insomnia or sedation
  • Headaches
  • Sexual problems
  • Weight gain

Also important to note is that antidepressants are not a “quick fix.” These medications can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to begin to relieve symptoms.  Thus, if your teen begins antidepressants, it may be helpful for them to seek additional treatment (such as psychotherapy) while the medication has time to start “working.”

Providing Support at Home

Although depression is a serious mental illness, and treatment should be sought as soon as possible, there are things you can do at home to help support your teenager.

  • Listen – while you cannot “fix” your teenager’s depression, you can be a empathetic listener and provide emotional support.
  • Accentuate the positive
  • Encourage them to stay on track with their treatment plan
  • Make time to spend one on one with your teen
  • Model healthy behavior – exercise, nutrition, rest, and socialization are all important factors to managing depression and achieving an overall sense of wellness. By modeling these behaviors, your teen may feel more encouraged to do the same.

Depression is a serious mental illness, and one that, if not treated could become deadly. If you think your teenager may be suffering from depression, do not wait to get them help.

polaris teen rehab logo
Polaris Teen Center | Website | + posts

Polaris Teen Center is a residential treatment facility for teens and adolescents suffering from severe mental health disorders. Our highly accredited facility is fully licensed and certified in Trauma Informed Care and is a part of the Behavioral Health Association of Providers (formerly AATA).

Related Posts