Understanding Your Teenager S Depression

Based on the latest scientific findings, a comprehensive guide to the diagnosis and treatment of teenage depression. Each year thousands of American teenagers are diagnosed with clinical depression. If ignored, poorly treated, or left untreated, it can be a devastating illness for adolescents and their families. Drawing on her many years of experience as a pychiatrist working with teenagers, Dr. Maureen Empfield answers the questions parents and teens have about depression, providing detailed information on: *Identifying the different types of depression *How depression is diagnosed *Which teenagers are most at risk *Suicide *The effect of depression on other teenage problems *How depression is treated and by whom *The drugs used to treat teenage depression - what they are and how they work *When a teenager needs to be hospitalized for depression *and more Understanding Teenage Depression provides the latest scientific findings on this serious condition, and the most up to date information on its treatment. The book includes numerous vignettes drawn from Dr. Empfield's clinical practice as well as first person accounts from teenagers who have themselves suffered from depression. Understanding Teenage Depression is a book that anyone who's been touched by this disease - whether parents, teachers, family members or teens themselves - will find invaluable.

The authors describe the many forms of depression and the many symptoms of depression in young people—from sadness to irritability, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse, and violent rages. Incorporating the latest research from the field of adolescent psychiatry, this comprehensive and compassionate guide answers questions that many parents have, including What are the symptoms of depression in teenagers? How is depression diagnosed? What is the difference between depression and bipolar disorder, and which does my child have? How can I find the best mental health professional team for my child? What kinds of counseling and psychotherapy are available? Are medications safe, and how does a doctor choose a medication for my child? What can I do if my adolescent is using alcohol, crystal meth, marijuana, or other substances? How do autism and Asperger's syndrome, eating disorders, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, ADHD, and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder interact with depression? What should I do if I sense that my child is in danger? With all of this going on, how can I take care of myself?

"The authors have produced a very readable, extremely well informedand comprehensive book that will add greatly to the knowledge baseof interested parents. This book is strongly recommended."--Stewart Gable, MD Chairman, Department of Psychiatry TheChildren's Hospital, Denver, Colorado You supported and encouragedthem as they grew from toddlers to teens. Now you are confrontedwith one of the toughest challenges you and they will ever face .teenage depression. Adolescence is a period of peaks and valleys.Most teens negotiate these years with relative ease; yet for somethese times are treacherous with countless pitfalls. Whendepression ensues, it can interfere with much of your child'spotential. Clinical depression is now epidemic among Americanteens, and teen suicide can be a deadly consequence. Helping YourDepressed Teenager is a practical guide offering family solutionsto a family problem. This book will sensitize you to the hiddenstruggles of adolescents and assist you in understanding theirmultifaceted problems. The authors are experts in this field andhave helped countless youngsters confront and overcome theirdepressed mood. In a highly readable and gentle manner, they helpyou see behind the "masks" of troubled teens who attempt to hidetheir true feelings. They help you distinguish the subtle andsometimes not so subtle signs that something is seriously wrong.And they help you provide the loving support and assistanceteenagers need to make it through this difficult life passage. Someof the useful information provided: * What families can do to prevent teen depression * How to tell the difference between moodiness and depression * How to read the warning signs of a troubled teenager * How to know when professional help is needed and where to findit * How to choose the right treatment options for your teen

Helps parents recognize the freqhently obscured symptoms of depression and offers appropriate and practical advice to cope with this critical problem.

One in eight high school students is depressed. But depression in teenagers can be deceptive, and authorities estimate that a huge number of depressed teens are undiagnosed. Adults may mistake symptoms as "typical" teen angst, anger, or anxiety. Or the teen may mask the symptoms with high-energy activity. For parents who suspect their teen is depressed, the system often fails the family. Insurance coverage for treatment ends too soon, there's a months-long wait to see an adolescent therapist, or long-term follow-up is insufficient. This means parents must take charge of their child's health to reinforce, extend, and monitor treatment and its aftermath. The good news is they can do it—because parents know their child best. Although a medical doctor, Dr. Berlinger initially missed the signs of his own son's depression. By combining his parental love with his scientific skills, he developed a set of techniques to lead his son out of depression. Now he shares his 10 Parental Partnering Strategies to help parents rescue their teen from depression—based on his own experiences, nearly 100 interviews with parents of depressed teens, and interviews with mental health professionals. Increasingly, doctors are asking parents to partner with them to help children get healthy and stay healthy. Partnering has been proven effective in the treatment of other serious emotional illnesses such as anorexia nervosa. Parents can use Dr. Berlinger's strategies to help distinguish depression from moodiness; be alert to suicide risk; monitor medication effectiveness; help the teen combat negative thinking; organize activities to offset depression; and spot signs of relapse during tense times in their child's life, including exams, relationship breakups, or starting college or a job. Both a family survival story and a practical guide, this book affirms parents' unique power to help teens overcome depression.

This book will give you the tools to be a strong, constant, dependable source of support for your teen. Within its pages, you will find:3 of the most powerful questions people have about anxiety and depression, answered in a clear and comprehensive mannerSymptoms of teen depression and anxiety - how to recognize early warning signs and differentiate them from typical teen "growing pains"How to broach the uncomfortable topic of suicide risk, respond to a teen who is self-harming, and help teens recognize and tackle stressThe roots of anxiety and depression - the many social, environmental, and biological causes that can play a key role in the development of these conditionsTreatment options to consider - including medication and talk therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapyA powerful way to boost resilience to stress, and prevent and manage anxiety and depressionHow to knock down one of the most significant barriers to a teen's mental health progressHow to promote body acceptance in your teenager - the critical messages you can share that will reveal to your child that all is not as it seems on social mediaAll the Dos and Don'ts of talking to your teen, and why active listening is vital if you want your teen to open up to youHow to encourage healthy use of social media and nip cyberbullying in the bud

If you’re the parent of a teenager experiencing chronic anxiety, this book is for you. Today’s teens are high-strung and socially overextended. We shrug it off as a millennial problem, but is it? In a world that encourages the quick fix, instant gratification, and real-time feedback, can we really expect our children to cope as we did less than two decades ago, in the land of handshakes, eye contact, elbow grease, and grit? This book is a product of a combination of three very different perspectives: those of the anxious teen, the parent, and the therapist. We need to understand what we’ve created in terms of our current society to gain proper insight on why we’re seeing increasingly rising levels of anxiety in our teenagers. Topics include: Physical and Emotional Symptoms of Anxiety Teens and Self-Harm Anxiety and Gut Health Sports: Concussions and Anxiety Natural Ways to Help Your Teen Cope And much, much more Within each chapter, author (and parent) Jennifer Browne and co-author (Jennifer’s teenage son) Cody Buchanan, who struggles with anxiety and depression, will weigh in on what this affliction feels like, physically, mentally, and emotionally. They share personal experiences to help parents better understand their teens and learn a lot along the way.

The teen years are hard enough. But with today's increased pressures to produce at school, stay in step with being cool, and manage a jam-packed schedule, it's no wonder many teens are overwhelmed. The result is a generation experiencing greater stress and feeling more depressed than any other. This book will inspire and equip parents to help their hurting teens. The well-known and widely respected author team of Dr. Catherine Hart Weber and Dr. Arch Hart help parents discover and identify nervousness, irritability, negativity, and low self-esteem, and determine whether their teen's symptoms are caused by physical problems, raging hormones, stress, or depression. Offering practical suggestions, spiritual solutions, and encouragement, this resource helps parents and teens face their own feelings of fear, anger, and hurt. Is Your Teen Stressed or Depressed? will help parents determine whether their child is simply acting like a hormone-raging teenager, or is actually suffereing from too much stress or even depression.