Adolescent depression - Francis Mark Mondimore

Until recently, psychologists and psychiatrists believed that adolescents did not experience true depression in the way that adults do. Medical experts now realize that young people can and do get seriously depressed, and that depression and bipolar disorder may be more serious and more difficult to treat in adolescents than in adults. Depression may also be harder to recognize as an illness, both because moodiness is considered universal among teenagers and because parents often resist having their child treated for a psychiatric illness that they think - and often hope - will be "just a phase".;In this text, Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Francis Mondimore helps parents understand that serious depression in adolescents is an illness -an illness that can be effectively treated. He describes the many forms of depression and the many ways it can appear in young people - from intensely sad feelings to irritability, anger and destructive rages. He also answers parents' questions, including: what are the danger signals of serious depression in teenagers? How are mood disorders diagnosed? How do medications work? What about talking therapies? How does depression relate to other problems, such as drug abuse, ADHD, eating disorders and other self-injurious behaviour? Of the one in five adults who go through a period of serious depression during their lifetime, many had their first experience of depression as teenagers. This comprehensive guide detailing the symptoms, treatments, complications and causes of adolescent depression seeks to provide parents with the information they need to ensure that their children receive the best possible treatment and become happy and healthy adults.