Teens Meet Outreach

In our last post, we gave a general discussion on depression. Today, we’ll be looking at the symptoms and flashing signs that a teen is depressed.

It’s normal to feel down once in a while, as life will not always be rosy. It is, however, not okay to be down consistently and keep living a life of despair. I should probably be attributing this to parents, but a teenager’s life doesn’t always revolve around parents. Many times they are with other people or even by their own selves. The first step to solving an issue is by identifying what exactly the issue is, and then, seek for ways to handle it. If you don’t know what exactly is wrong with you, it’ll be difficult to deal with it.

Many teenagers do not know when they are depressed, simply because they can’t tell the warning signals. So, it goes on and on and ends up getting prolonged, which is harmful.

Below are some major signs and symptoms

• Lack of enthusiasm: there’s this lack of zeal to do things that would normally get you into action. Nothing seems interesting or fun anymore; you just want to be on your own and live life like there’s nothing to it anymore.

• Poor performance in school: this is very common, since virtually all teenagers are in school. It can also be linked to lack of enthusiasm. Such teen won’t be able to study as before, hence the poor grades. Remember depression is misery; it makes one down and weak.

• Eating and sleeping habits: this effect can’t be generalized, as we all are different. Some tend to eat and sleep better, while some others lack appetite and sleep, but whichever way, there’s always an alteration in eating and sleeping habits.

• Restlessness: to stand or to sit? To study or to stare? To eat or to drink? To sleep or to cry? Restlessness. There’s not just peace anywhere and the world already seem like it’s crashing.

• Memory loss: this is not really a mental situation, especially if the depression is still at the early stage. It is a quick and sharp effect. Depressed teenagers tend to forget some basic things, because they are most likely to be lost in thoughts or the sadness won’t even let them think right. This is why a depressed teen can mistakenly drop a can of drink in the bin, instead of keeping it in the fridge. Oh, I once poured my salt into the bin instead of my stew.

• Withdrawal: depressed teenagers are most likely to withdraw from friends and family, as they will always want to be alone and wallow in their thoughts.

• Lack of concentration: the teenager can get carried away while studying or while in a class. Even while doing some random things, concentration is lost.

• Anger: depressing state is a really frustrating moment, and the individual is likely to feel the urge to yell or throw a punch into someone or even any solid surface. There’s this willing to voice out but you can’t, so you just want to tear yourself apart to be fine. This is as a result of anger.

Highlighted above are common signs and symptoms to look out for in a depressed teen. There are definitely more, but those are commonly noticed.

In our next post, we’ll be discussing the causes. You can contact us to contribute and don’t forget to leave a comment.

Check out the overview of teen depression  and subscribe

Know about the major causes of teen depression here