Teenage Depression

The symptoms may be harder to spot than obvious blues. The following are some of the signs of teenage depression, and are most significant when they occur in combination and over a period lasting more than two weeks.

• Sadness, anxiety and hopelessness.
• Lack of interest in food or compulsive overeating with resulting weight loss or gain. Or, night time insomnia and daytime sleeping.
• Social isolation. Friends are important to teens and if your child is withdrawing from friends, this is a sign of trouble.
• Sudden drop in grades, cutting school, or relentless rebellion.
• Psychosomatic complaints - headaches, stomachaches, low back pain and fatigue. These can plague depressed teens.
• Alcohol, drug use or sexual activity can be ways of coping with depression. Suicidal feeling and behavior are a sign of serious depression and a real cry for help via

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Treatment for Depression

Having depression doesn't mean that a person is weak, or a failure, or isn't really trying... it means they need TREATMENT.

Most people with depression can be helped with COUNSELING, provided by a professional psychologist, and some are helped with Counseling and Medicine.

COUNSELING, or psychotherapy, means talking about feelings with a trained psychologist who can help you change the relationships, thoughts, or behaviors that are causing the depression. Think about it, you feel depressed because you think your life is bad. What if you're wrong? What if you're missing all the good things around you? What if your future holds a lot more promise than you think? When you're depressed, you're in a rut, and you can't see anything good. You need to talk to someone who can help you get out of that rut! Don't wait, ask your parents, or your school counselor for help today.

MEDICINE is used to treat depression that is severe or disabling. Antidepressant medications are not "uppers" and are not addictive. When depression is so bad that you can't focus on anything else, when it interferes with your life in an overwhelming way, medication might be necessary, in addition to counseling. But most often, counseling alone is sufficient.

With treatment, most depressed people start to feel better in just a few weeks.

So remember, when your problems seem too big and you're feeling low for too long,

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
There's help out there and you CAN ask for help. And if you know someone who you think is depressed, YOU CAN HELP. Listen and encourage your friend to ask a parent or a responsible adult about treatment. If you friend doesn't ask for help soon, talk to an adult you trust and respect-- especially if your friend mentions suicide. Your friend's life is more important than keeping a secret!
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Causes of Depression

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Causes of Depression

Depression has no single cause; often, it results from a combination of things. You may have no idea why depression has struck you.

Whatever its cause, depression is not just a state of mind. It is related to physical changes in the brain, and connected to an imbalance of a type of chemical that carries signals in your brain and nerves. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters.

Some of the more common factors involved in depression are:

• Family history. Genetics play an important part in depression. It can run in families for generations.
• Trauma and stress. Things like financial problems, the breakup of a relationship, or the death of a loved one can bring on depression. You can become depressed after changes in your life, like starting a new job, graduating from school, or getting married.
• Pessimistic personality. People who have low self-esteem and a negative outlook are at higher risk of becoming depressed. These traits may actually be caused by low-level depression (called dysthymia).
• Physical conditions. Serious medical conditions like heart disease, cancer, and HIV can contribute to depression, partly because of the physical weakness and stress they bring on. Depression can make medical conditions worse, since it weakens the immune system and can make pain harder to bear. In some cases, depression can be caused by medications used to treat medical conditions.
• Other psychological disorders. Anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and (especially) substance abuse often appear along with depression. via

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Symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder

ndividuals with antisocial personality disorder:

* May begin displaying symptoms during childhood. Such behaviors include fire setting, cruelty to animals, and difficulty with authority.

* Often have legal problems resulting from failures to conform to social norms and a lack of concern for the rights of others.

* Often act out impulsively and fail to consider the consequences of their actions.

* Display aggressiveness and irritability that often lead to physical assaults.

* Have difficulty feeling empathy for others. This inability to consider the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of other people can lead to disregard for others.

* Display a lack of remorse for damaging behavior.

Treatments for Antisocial Personality Disorder

* Those with antisocial personality disorder rarely seek out treatment on their own.

* Individuals generally receive treatment only after some type of altercation with the legal system.

* Cognitive therapy can be useful in helping individuals gain insight into their behaviors and to change maladaptive thought patterns.

* Effective results usually occur only after long-term treatment.
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Impact of Age and Mood on Information Processing

A new study published in the journal Psychology and Aging suggests that the effects of mood on information processing may be impacted by age.

In the study, negative and positive moods were induced in younger and older participants, who were then asked to interpret the actions of others. Older adults were more likely than younger adults to attribute another’s actions to the individual rather than attributing actions to situational factors.

Based upon the results, researchers suggest than older adults are more concerned with suppressing negative emotions than younger adults. Researchers suggest that because attention is focused on regulating negative emotions, older adults have difficulty processing external information.

"It may be the case that older adults in a negative mood state are more motivated to downgrade their negative emotions and, thus, not allocate enough processing time to focus on the details of the situation.

So this needs to be taken into consideration when imparting information to older adults,” said Fredda Blanchard-Fields, professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology.
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