Your Brooding Teen-Could There Be A Problem

Attentive parents are a bipolar child’s best chance at getting vital treatment. If you answer yes to the majority of the following questions, consider having your child evaluated by a child psychiatrist or clinical therapist who specializes in bipolar disorder.

Does your child have rapidly alternating moods that fluctuate numerous times a day from being elated to being extremely irritable? Is your child incredibly hard to wake up and equally hard to get to sleep? Have other parents warned you that your child tends to be aggressive with their children or does your child get into fights? Is your child explosive at times? Would you describe your child as unstoppable once he or she gets a notion to obtain something? (i.e. Have you ever gone out to pick up pizza, ice cream or a video just to stop the tension your child is causing in the home?) Does your child often describe activities that are enjoyable to most children as boring or not stimulating enough? Have others described your child as withdrawn? Is your child often sad without a reason? Does your teen drive erratically or engage in other highly risky behavior (i.e. Promiscuity or substance abuse)? Has your child been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression, but doesn’t seem to respond well to treatment? Does your child have trouble maintaining friendships? Has your child been in trouble numerous times at school? Has your child ever been in trouble with the law? Is there any family history of mood disorders and/or substance abuse?

* Remember, no one of these symptoms by itself constitutes bipolar disorder. And, most importantly, in order for any problem to reach the level of a psychiatric disorder, it needs to be interfering with the child’s life. The bottom line is that parents must ask themselves if their child’s behavior is causing him or her not to function at home, at school or with friends.

Medication & Dealing With Teen Depression

Both medication and psychotherapy play a part in the treatment of teen depression. Each method of treatment goes hand-in-hand with one another. Even if a troubled teenager is under medication for his or her depression, supporting psychotherapy is vital to his or her treatment. On the other hand if he or she is undergoing psychotherapy, supporting medication is crucial.

Medications like Zoloft (sertraline) or Prozac (fluoxetine) are often prescribed for the disorder because of their effectiveness in restoring a patient’s normal mood, appetite, and sleeping patterns. While the patient is dealing with his or her issues behind the depression in psychotherapy, medication can help him or her deal with the symptoms of the disorder.

All patients are unique individuals

But it is important to consider the fact that all patients are unique individuals. Just because one medication worked for this patient doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be the most beneficial for another patient. If a certain medication prescribed for depression does not show favorable results in your troubled teen, don’t be quick to shun medication in the treatment of your teen’s disorder. A different kind of medication for depression may have a positive effect on your teen’s progress. For some people, the class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) are helpful in the treatment of atypical depression, while others prefer monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI’s). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA’s) are also another class of drugs which are frequently used in the treatment of melancholic depression.

Have realistic expectations

It is important to note that medication for the treatment of teen depression is not a magic pill which can induce wellness with one swallow. Both parent and patient should have realistic expectations of the effectiveness of the drug in relation to a timetable. For most medications, there is a certain period of time that the patient must be taking the medication for it to take proper effect.

Achieve a proper balance of medication and psychotherapy

Some parents may still be skeptical of the use of medication to treat disorders which are known for their symptoms of feelings. But many studies have shown that there are certain chemicals that may affect our disposition. Because of these new studies, parents ought to be more open to the use of drugs in the treatment of disorders of this type.

As long as a parent is not relying solely on the medication for the treatment of his or her troubled teen, he or she can expect a smoother transition into wellness for his or her teen with the proper balance of medication and psychotherapy.

[Link: Troubled Teen]

Psychotherapy & Dealing With Teen Depression

Psychotherapy plays an important part in the treatment of a depressed teenager. For those parents who may think that being in a slump is something that their teen can just shrug off, here is where you may be mistaken. The despair and prevailing sadness that a teenager may experience from depression is a serious matter. If a parent were to simply wait for his or her teen to shrug it off, that parent could be waiting for nothing.

The important issue to remember here is that when a teen is suffering from depression this may not be the only problem he or she is faced with. In fact, a crucial problem that any depressed person may face is suicidal tendency. This is precisely why active help and steps in treatment of the disorder are vital.

Getting to the root of a teen’s depression

When a depressed teen is undergoing psychotherapy, the issues which lie behind his or her disorder are being addressed. A psychotherapist may want to talk with him or her about his or her feelings in different situations. By getting to the root of a teen’s depression the likelihood of it resulting in suicide is greatly reduced, if not eliminated. It is vital for a depressed teen to be in psychotherapy because it gives him or her a chance to air out the negative feelings he or she may be keeping inside.

This gives the therapist a chance to correct any misconceptions that the patient may have about him or herself, or life in general. Instead of leaving these misconceptions to brew negativity within your teen, he or she gets a chance to release them.

Talk therapy

Talk. Talk itself can be a very therapeutic activity. By having your troubled teen speak with a psychotherapist you are also engaging him/her in an activity where you are sure that he/she will not be isolating him/herself. When dealing with a disorder such as depression, any activity that can keep the patient from isolation or loneliness can be helpful.

Once the issues behind your teenager’s depression are addressed in psychotherapy, he or she may face a smoother road to recovery. Without the therapy, you are not certain that your troubled teen’s issues are being dealt with or just tucked away inside by your teenager.

Taking that first step to recovery

At first it may be scary for you and your teen to seek professional help, but it is an empowering step to take. By acknowledging that he or she has a problem and getting help, he or she is taking his or her first step to recovery.

[Link:Troubled Teens Info]

Medication & Teen Depression

While the patient is dealing with his or her issues behind the depression in psychotherapy, medication can help him or her deal with the symptoms of the disorder.

It is important to consider the fact that all patients are unique individuals. Just because one medication worked for this patient doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be the most beneficial for another patient.

If a certain medication prescribed for depression does not show favorable results in your troubled teen, don’t be quick to shun medication in the treatment of your teen’s disorder. A different kind of medication for depression may have a positive effect on your teen’s progress. For some people, the class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) are helpful in the treatment of atypical depression, while others prefer monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI’s). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA’s) are also another class of drugs which are frequently used in the treatment of melancholic depression.

Refer to Role of Medication in dealing with Teen Depression for more information.

[Link: Troubled Teens]

What Kinds Of People Self-injure?

Self-injurers come from all walks of life and all economic brackets, although most come from a middle-class to upper-class background. People who harm themselves can be male or female; straight, gay, or bisexual; Ph.D.s or high-school dropouts or high-school students; rich or poor; from any country in the world.

Some people who self-injure manage to function effectively in demanding jobs; they are teachers, therapists, medical professionals, lawyers, professors, engineers. Some are on disability. Their ages range from early teens to early 60s.

Nearly 50% report physical abuse and/or sexual abuse during his or her childhood. Many self-injurers report that they were discouraged from expressing emotions, particularly anger or sadness.

The incidence of self-injury is about the same as that of eating disorders, but because it's so highly stigmatized, most people hide their scars, burns, and bruises carefully. They also have excuses ready when someone asks about the scars.

Aren't people who would deliberately cut or burn themselves psychotic?

No more than people who drown their sorrows in a bottle of vodka are. It's a coping mechanism, just not one that's as understandable to most people or as accepted by society as alcoholism, drug abuse, overeating, anorexia and bulimia, workaholism, smoking cigarettes, and other forms of problem avoidance.

[taken in part from Focus]

Define Yourself

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

Harvey Fienstein

Teen Depression

During the teen years not only does it become difficult to understand what behavior is then teen just being a teenager but it also becomes difficult to decide if the teen is depressed. One of the easiest ways to decide if these mood changes are depression is to take a look at how long these symptoms have been present with the teen, how severe the issue is and how different your teen is acting compared to his usual self.

This is a stage in life when you can expect to see several different changes and growing pains because of all of the challenges that face your teen such as school, activities, fitting in with peers and so much more. Here are several other signs that will help you and your teen be able to see what signs and changes are depression and what is just normal growing up.

· Your teen might be angry, irritable or hostile for long periods of time or often.
· You may notice that your teen is often sad or has feelings of hopelessness.
· Depression might cause frequent crying episodes.
· Depression will also cause your teen to withdraw not only from family but also from his friends.
· Watch for a loss of interest in the activities that might have been enjoyable prior to the depression.
· Your teen might experience a change in both sleeping and eating habits. Either in excess or not enough.
· There may be obvious restlessness or your teen might be easily agitated.
· A lack of energy or fatigue might be evident.
· The teen might have difficulty concentrating along with a lack of both motivation and enthusiasm.
· There might also be thoughts of suicide, death or causing physical harm to themselves.

If you notice any of these signs in your teen in is time to seek professional help. Call your family doctor right away if you notice any of the signs lasting for long periods of time.

[Link:Depression Hurts]

Epidemiology of Deliberate Self-Harm

For an estimated one to three million Americans, self-harm is a serious problem. Research has demonstrated that approximately one percent of the general population engages in deliberate self-harm. This statistic is likely to be grossly underestimated due to the secrecy and the stigma of the behavior.

DSH tends to begin in childhood or adolescence; the typical age of onset is between ages 10 and 16. While the majority of people who harm themselves are females between the ages of 13 and 30, there are self-injurers of every age, gender, and economic group. DSH tends to peak between the ages of 18 and 24, and decreases as an individual enters his or her 30s and 40s.

Princess Diana was a self-cutter; she also threw herself down a flight of stairs. The most common professions of self-injurers are teachers, nurses and managers.

[taken in part from Publicsafety.com]

Responding to a Child’s Self-Injury

“Those are burns?”
“Why would you do that?”
“You don’t just go and burn yourself. What were you thinking?”

From any parent’s perspective, this situation would be extremely difficult. A child chooses to cut, hit, burn, or somehow intentionally hurt herself. It’s disturbing and confusing. Questions fire through your mind as you struggle to understand how this could be possible. You wrestle to recover, but the jab of those initial raw emotions spill out.

Like any parent, you hope your children won’t turn to self-injury. Can you prevent it? Or if a child is already involved in self-injury, can you change its course?

Possibly.

Can you at least make a difference?
Definitely.

You can nurture an atmosphere of relationship, conversation, openness, and safety. You can convey you are someone they can confidently go to with her deepest thoughts, hurts, fears, and anxieties.
To begin:
1. Watch for ways you can model how to cope through challenging circumstances.

2. Mend the relationship as soon as possible when you’ve responded in a quick or hurtful way.

3. Daily encourage and value your child’s expression of thoughts and emotions.

4. Listen well, with compassion and without judgment.

5. Be patient and let their story unfold without asking why.

6. Realize she/he might not tell you everything at once, and be okay with that.

7. Keep your own emotions in check and, if necessary, communicate thoughts later after you’ve had time to think things through.

8. Be trustworthy in how you handle information shared in confidence.

9. Involve her/him in the decision when you need to bring professionals or others into the situation (for depression, anxiety, or possible serious emotional disorders).

10. Remove your child from abusive situations and environments.

Children struggling would feel encouraged by an open, warm response. Instead of despair cloaking their days, they might begin to feel hope. They no longer have to feel trapped or alone or stuck in the cycle of self-injury. As they open up, talk and connect with family or the community, they’ll become aware they are moving toward healthy ways to cope. A day without self-injury will feel possible. Then a year, then a life.

It’s a process. It takes time.
And, more importantly, it takes you.

[Full article]