Most parents have a habit of associating depression to mood swings and bad mood, which results in failure of identifying the signs of depression in teens. Fault, big big fault. In reality, depression is a much more severe and serious issue than the mere mood swings. A bad mood may lead to crying, not having a meal or two, whereas depression can get your teenage child into drugs, alcohol, smoking or other bad habits that can end up ruining their lives. In the worst of cases, teenagers even take the disastrous step of taking their own lives as they seize to believe that they’ll ever come out of their sorrow. Therefore, depression needs to be dealt with immediately and very carefully, but in order to be dealt with, it needs to be identified first. Depression is not something that you can infer instantly in a teenager but every problem comes with signs and symptoms. Same goes for depression. Now let us take a look at what are the usual signs of depression that go unnoticed by parents. Before that, we must know what the possible reasons behind depression are.

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Possible causes for depression!

1) Death or loss of a loved one: Nothing feels worse than losing a beloved to death or otherwise and in majority of the cases, it is the reason behind triggering depression inside someone.

2) Genetically triggered: Yes, even something like depression can be passed down to you genetically.

3) Personal fights and issues: Depression can be caused also when a person is having fights or conflicts with friends or family regarding any matter.

4) Abuse of all kind: Abuse includes sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse. Some events including such incidents can have a very big impact on a teenager and that ends up resulting in depression of all sorts.

5) Medication: We know that medicines have side effects. Some medicines have the side effect in the form of depression.

6) Can be due to substance abuse: Substance abuse can, in more than a few cases, be the reason behind depression which is exactly why parents need to be extra careful with what their children do.

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What are the signs of depression in teens?

  • Constant sadness: Often see your child staying sad? Well there you go, the first and most obvious sign of depression is seeing your child sad all the time. When a couple of days of sadness turn into a couple of weeks of sadness, you can hear the alarm bells ringing.
  • Anger and rage: When you see sparks flying over your child’s head for the mildest of reasons quite often, it might be a sign of depression. So, instead of going all out on them, sit down with them and try to reason out. You might end up being surprised to know that there was really something wrong.
  • Overflow of guilt: The often egoistic teenager is feeling guilty most of the times? Mom-Dad, time to take matters into your own hands. Guilt is often associated with depression as it is something that pulls us down so low that we end up being depressed.
  • Isolation: This is one of the giveaways for depression. Most signs can go unnoticed but isolation cannot. We often notice a social withdrawal from teenagers when they’re suffering from depression. It’s mostly because in such a situation, they do not like any human contact, be it verbal or physical.
  • Teary eyes and seldom crying: This sign is seen more in girls than in boys as boys are known to control their emotions better than girls. We all know that girls are softer by nature than boys hence they give it away too easily. If you see your child being tearful most of the times and you don’t find a reason behind it, it may be a clear indication of depression.
  • Sudden lack in confidence and motivation: When your child goes from being the most confident of all to the extreme opposite, it is one of the red lights that you should take note of. Depression blows the confidence out of someone as the reason behind it may have to do some failure. To bring the confidence back in your child is something no one can do, better than you.
  • Loss of appetite: Your child used to hog on food a lot and off late you notice that his appetite has just witnessed a huge loss, what can be the reason? One possible/probable explanation is depression. In depression, the churning in the stomach often leads to you wanting to puke at the very sight of food.
  • Lack of sleep/Disturbed sleep cycle: A disturbed sleep cycle is also a sign of depression. The reasons behind depression can often lead to disturbed thoughts that often lead to a constantly wandering mind. This, in return, does not allow someone suffering from depression getting sleep as easily as otherwise.
  • Lack of concentration: Your child’s head isn’t in his studies like it used to be? He seems to be distracted when you talk to them? Another sign of a depression is at your disposal then. Depression pushes your mind towards unwanted thoughts which leads to a lack of concentration.
  • Loss of initiative in hobbies: Teenagers today are extremely talented. Be it singing, dancing, acting or sports, teenagers excel in every category there is to excel. A sudden drop in the initiative towards these favored hobbies can also indicate signs of depression in you ward. Take care of it quickly!
  • Suicidal thoughts: If you feel that your ward is having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of death more often than he should (i.e. none at all), you should be more alarmed than ever. Suicidal thoughts and tendencies are the BIGGEST sign of depression and the most alarming one as well. A plethora of depression patients often end their lives hence dealing with depression, as a parent, is something that just cannot be delayed.

With all the signs of depression at your disposal, be more aware than ever about it as it’s not something to be taken likely. Your children need you, be there for them!