How To Deal With Teenage Stress And Depression

Look For The Positive And Praise Your Teen Generously

If your teen is depressed, they will welcome praise when its offered. Depression often comes with feeling guilty, ashamed, sad, lonely, anxious, and confused. When you give your teen praise, you highlight a detail in their life and you help them shine a bit more. You also let your teen know that youre noticing, that you care, and that you love them. Teens who are depressed need you to highlight the positive because they are so frequently focused on the negative.

Dealing With Anxiety The How

Here are some ways to manage anxiety by strengthening the structure and function of your brain in ways that protect it against anxiety. Remember though, the brain is like any other muscle in your body it will get stronger with practice. I wish I could tell you that it would get stronger with pizza and tacos but that would be a dirty big lie and very unhelpful. Delicious maybe, but unhelpful. What isnt a lie is that the following strategies have been proven by tons of very high-brow research to be very powerful in helping to reduce anxiety.

A mountain of studies have shown that mindfulness can be a little bit magic in strengthening the brain against anxiety. In a massive analysis of a number of different mindfulness/anxiety studies, mindfulness was found to be associated with robust and substantial reductions in symptoms of anxiety.

Mindfulness changes the brain the way exercise changes our body but without the sweating and panting. Two of the ways mindfulness changes the brain are:

Okay then. What else can mindfulness do?

Plenty. Mindfulness can improve concentration, academic performance, the ability to focus, and it can help with stress and depression. It also increases gray matter, which is the part of the brain that contains the neurons. Neurons are brain cells, so we want plenty of them and plenty of gray matter for them to hang out in.

So mindfulness hey? What is it exactly?

Is there an app for that?

Exercise.

When To Get Professional Help

Feeling down or worried happens to people of all ages, but when those feelings get in the way of your everyday life, you might need extra help. If your grades drop significantly, you cant face beneficial social activities, youre using alcohol or drugs to cope, or youre having any thoughts of harming yourself or others, consider seeking therapy or treatment.

If you need extra help, talk with your parents or guidance counselor if possible. If you dont feel comfortable doing that, you can call the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Hotline, or if youre thinking of harming yourself, the National Suicide Hotline. The best way to cope with school while youre feeling depressed or anxious is to get help for those symptoms as soon as possible.

Talkspace articles are written by experienced mental health-wellness contributors they are grounded in scientific research and evidence-based practices. Articles are extensively reviewed by our team of clinical experts to ensure content is accurate and on par with current industry standards.

Our goal at Talkspace is to provide the most up-to-date, valuable, and objective information on mental health-related topics in order to help readers make informed decisions.

Articles contain trusted third-party sources that are either directly linked to in the text or listed at the bottom to take readers directly to the source.

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How To Parent A Depressed Teenager

The teenage years are filled with phenomenal changes, physically, emotionally and socially. It is a period where family relationships must adjust to new dynamics. The sweet, easy-going child you used to know is still there, but now also moody, confused, defiant, and prone to reckless behaviour and excessive sleep. Teenagers want to spread their wings and develop their own styles, identities and personalities. They crave independence from their parents. But for over a year now, the pandemic has injected restrictions that go against the grain of adolescent lifestyles and behaviour. Their daily routine has been upended, social life stunted, and your teenager is now locked up in close quarters with parents and siblings! For some households, all of this has created the perfect storm, triggering an increase in mental health problems. Parents cant decipher whether their teen is depressed or simply transitioning naturally through adolescence.

Try These 13 Coping Skills For Teens To Deal With Stress Anxiety And More

Here are some healthy coping skills, arranged into different categories, to help you deal with various struggles that many of us will encounter during our lives, especially during our teenager years. Learning coping techniques to deal with these things now is beneficial because youll carry these positive coping skills with you for the rest of your life.

Please note that even though these coping skills for teens are sorted into different categories, you can use any of these coping techniques for any issue that youre struggling with.

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How Is Teen Depression Treated

There are a variety of methods used to treat depression, including medications and psychotherapy. Family therapy may be helpful if family conflict is contributing to a teen’s depression. The teen will also need support from family or teachers to help with any school or peer problems. Occasionally, hospitalization in a psychiatric unit may be required for teenagers with severe depression.

Your mental health care provider will determine the best course of treatment for your teen.

The FDA warns that antidepressant medications can, rarely, increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents with depression and other psychiatric disorders. Use of antidepressants in younger patients, therefore, requires especially close monitoring and follow-up by the treating doctor. If you have questions or concerns, discuss them with your health care provider.

The Importance Of Accepting And Sharing Your Feelings

It can be hard to open up about how youre feelingespecially when youre feeling depressed, ashamed, or worthless. Its important to remember that many people struggle with feelings like these at one time or anotherit doesnt mean that youre weak, fundamentally flawed, or no good. Accepting your feelings and opening up about them with someone you trust will help you feel less alone.

Even though it may not feel like it at the moment, people do love and care about you. If you can muster the courage to talk about your depression, it canand willbe resolved. Some people think that talking about sad feelings will make them worse, but the opposite is almost always true. It is very helpful to share your worries with someone who will listen and care about what you say. They dont need to be able to fix you they just need to be good listeners.

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Why Use Cbd Gummies For Anxiety And Stress Management

There are a lot of high-quality CBD products you’d find in the booming CBD market right now⦠but CBD gummies are the perfect choice if you’re just trying to dip your toes in the CBD wellness niche.

CBD gummies are available in many flavors. Though CBD oil is the more well-known CBD product, CBD gummies also contain an enough amount of CBD or cannabidiol that’s ideal for those who have picky taste buds. You may find CBD gummies that are unflavored and flavored – ranging from fruity to savory to anything you can think of!

CBD gummies work as fast as CBD oil. Taking CBD gummies by chewing and ingesting is one of the best ways to feel the potential of CBD and other cannabinoids to their fullest. Though vaping and smoking CBD still has the highest bioavailability, they still pose a few health concerns. When CBD gummies and other CBD edibles are ingested, CBD is broken down by your body efficiently. Then, parts of it travel throughout the body immediately.

CBD gummies won’t make you high. All CBD extract types comply with the Food and Drug Administration ‘s directive that hemp-derived CBD products can’t go over 0.3% of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. So, yes – even the full-spectrum CBD gummies with THC won’t get you high as long as you follow the product instructions. You may take advantage of the entourage effect to the fullest. Just make sure you don’t have any drug testing coming up, as even the littlest amount of THC would be a trigger for a false positive.

Tip : Support Your Teen Through Depression Treatment

As your depressed teenager goes through treatment, the most important thing you can do is to let them know that youre there to listen and offer support. Now more than ever, your teenager needs to know that theyre valued, accepted, and cared for.

Be understanding.Living with a depressed teenager can be difficult and draining. At times, you may experience exhaustion, rejection, despair, aggravation, or any other number of negative emotions. During this trying time, its important to remember that your child is not being difficult on purpose. Your teen is suffering, so do your best to be patient and understanding.

Stay involved in treatment. Make sure your teenager is following all treatment instructions, whether its attending therapy or correctly taking any prescribed medication. Track changes in your teens condition, and call the doctor if depression symptoms seem to be getting worse.

Be patient. The road to your depressed teenagers recovery may be bumpy, so be patient. Rejoice in small victories and prepare for the occasional setback. Most importantly, dont judge yourself or compare your family to others. As long as youre doing your best to get your teen the necessary help, youre doing your job.

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Support For Teens And Young Adults

Some of the questions you might be asking are, Should I be freaking out about COVID-19? and Why cant I hang out with my friends in person?. You may be feeling worried, bored, or frustrated. COVID-19 is frightening, and you are not the only one feeling stressed.

While anyone can catch the virus that causes COVID-19 and people of all ages and backgrounds can get severely ill, most people have a mild illness and are able to recover at home. But regardless of your personal risk, it is natural to be concerned for your friends and family or about uncertainty and changes in your daily routine.

There are things you can do to manage your stress.

• Learn about COVID-19. Knowing the facts and stopping the spread of rumors about COVID-19 can help you feel more in control of what is happening.
• Help stop the spread of COVID-19 by washing your hands often with soap and water, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding close contact with other people even your friends. COVID-19 may be spread by people who do not have symptoms. These actions will keep you from getting sick and spreading the virus to other people you care about.

New, easy-to-use, interactive web tools for children and teens to deal with thoughts and feelings in a healthy way.

Are Teens Today Unprepared For Lifes Challenges

Some of the experts believe that we have raised our teens to have unrealistic expectations. Along with the messages from modern media sources that suggest that we should always feel good, they say many parents havent taught their kids the kind of coping skills they need to survive in chaotic times.

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Help Them Get Support

While your compassion and guidance can make a big difference for your child, professional support is typically the best way to improve symptoms.

If they resist the idea of therapy at first, talking to a school counselor, family pediatrician, or favorite teacher can help them get more comfortable with the idea. They might be more willing to consider therapy when other trusted adults encourage them to reach out.

Talking over what happens in therapy can also help demystify the process. If they seem worried about being hospitalized or forced to take medication, explain that a therapist will listen to their thoughts, offer support without judgment, and help them explore ways to start feeling better.

You can also explain that, while medication can help relieve severe symptoms, they have other treatment options, too.

Newport Academy offers mental health treatment for teens dealing with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and other mental health conditions.

Anxiety And Depression: What Are The Possible Links

Although clearly not identical emotional states, mental health research suggests that depression and anxiety often coexist because they can be caused by the same or similar factors. According to an article published May 2020 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, those overlapping causes can include:

• Genetic Factors Genetic factors contribute to 40 percent of the predisposition to depressive and anxious symptoms, with 60 percent being attributed to environmental, noninherited factors. Especially with anxiety, more so than depression, there often is some family history, and so therefore we think that there may be some genetic predisposition to this, Connolly explains.
• Environmental Factors Also referred to as social factors, these include experiences like trauma or neglect in early childhood, and current stressors such as relationship difficulties, unemployment, social isolation, and physical illness. People who have post-traumatic stress disorder , an anxiety disorder, are particularly likely to also develop depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health .

• Pain Chronic pain, and particularly disabling pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome , low back pain, headaches, and nerve pain, are closely linked to psychological distress, including both anxiety and depression, notes Harvard Health. In fact, they say, research suggests that pain shares some biological mechanisms with anxiety and depression.

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Talk To Your Teen About Coping Tools To Help Overcome Depression

Working with a therapist, your teen is sure to learn about coping tools. Regardless of whether your teen continues to see a mental health professional, you can encourage your teen to use coping tools to overcome depression and stay emotionally balanced. The following are great ways to stay emotionally healthy:

• Enjoying time with family and friends
• Spending time with those who are uplifting
• Painting, writing, dancing or other forms of creativity
• Having a daily schedule
• Exploring passions
• Thinking about goals for the future

As a parent you can not only encourage your teen to practice these healthy activities, you can also join them. In fact, having a weekly or monthly time for self-care and relaxation together can support your teens emotional health. Also, by doing these sort of activities together you send the message to your teen that these activities are important. You model for your teen the importance of emotional and psychological health.

Lastly, if you have a depressed teen at home, then youre likely going to need to take good care of yourself too. Youre going to have to stay positive to help your teen overcome depression and guide them into a lighter experience of life.

Treating Anxiety: What’s On The Horizon For Anxiety Disorders

Treating anxiety is possible.

There are therapy and medications that can help relieve symptoms of anxiety. For anxiety disorders, treatments like cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychotherapy seem to be more effective than anti-anxiety medications. According to research, adding medications does not significantly improve outcomes from therapy alone. In addition, prescription medications present potential problems like addiction and dependence associated with prolonged use.

It’s up to your health practitioner what works well for you – to help you with your anxiety problems. However, increased physical activity , a healthy diet, and enough sleep are among the habits that you could start now to reduce your anxiety and stress.

Lately, many people have gotten into mindfulness and meditation, and most say that these help them calm themselves during panic attacks and also cope with other anxiety symptoms. In addition, adding effective natural supplements to boost your daily habits would get you far in your healing journey. Specifically, we’re talking about the all-natural wonders of CBD edibles, like CBD gummies for anxiety management.

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When To Seek Help

Identifying depression in teens can be difficult because it doesnt necessarily show up in all aspects of a teen’s life and can come and go. Nevertheless, it is often serious. It is a mistake to wait and hope depression will get better on its own it usually doesn’t.

Untreated depression can lead to other serious problems, such as substance use, behavior problems, and medical issues. It is important to have your teen evaluated by a doctor to receive an appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

If you’ve noticed significant changes in mood, behavior, or personality in your teen that last more than a few weeks, seek professional help to explore the reasons behind these changes.

Your child’s doctor can check for other medical conditions that might be contributing to your teen’s symptoms, too. Children who are diagnosed with depression tend to have other chronic health problems and mental health conditions, as well as other unmet mental and medical services needs.

It may not be depression, but any long-term changes in your teen’s functioning suggest a serious problem that must be identified and addressed. Its always best to err on the side of caution when the possibility of teen depression exists, because it can worsen and lead to suicide.

If you or a loved one are struggling with depression, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.