Free Essays,College Free Essays,Free College Essays at Anti Essays

Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way

that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and

themselves. Therefore it comes to 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). Despite this

increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly

underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and

personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How

prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent

with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed?

Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in

children and adolescents is because "children are not always able to

express how they feel." Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take

on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of

emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened

sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman

(1996) observed that the "challenge is to identify depressive

symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more

transient, but expected, developmental storm." Therefore, diagnosis

should not lay only in the physician's hands but be associated with

parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily

basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often

masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom

and irritability, or may...