What you think about teenage depression?

Do you think it should be treated by medications, therapy, or do you think that its just a phase some teens go through?What you think about teenage depression?
Teenage depression is a serious issue, well ti's a serious issue no matter the age.


It needs to be addressed no matter the form of treatment. As for what works, it depends on the individual and the type of depression.


Depression is real and it kills. Never ignore it.What you think about teenage depression?
Teen depression is addressed on page R, in section 2, at ezy build, below. My standard post follows: There is a quiz about depression, through sections 1, and 2, at ezy build, below: print the result, and take along to your primary mental health care provider. With depression, there is a choice of possible treatment types which needs to be made, and you can decide to use either allopathy, (modern Western medicine) with its reliance on antidepressants and therapy, or alternative treatments, which I advise trying first. This is because antidepressants are known to increase the rates of suicide, homicide, and aberrent behavio(u)r, particularly with young people, and often have unwanted side effects, such as sexual dysfunction, and/or weight gain.





Tests have shown that apart from clinical (major) depression, their results were not significantly superior to those taking a placebo (inert, or ';sugar pill';). Antidepressants retain a degree of long term effectiveness for only around 30% of people. There is a saying in the mental health field: ';If the only tool you have in your kit is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as a nail';. So it goes with doctors, and their prescription pads: handy, quick, and convenient, when trying to manage their large list of patients, and often allocating only 10 minutes to each.





Most of them are only trained to provide antidepressants and referrals for therapy, with those whose depression is resistant to those treatments being advised to have ElectroConvulsive Therapy, (ECT) with its risk of permanent, partial memory loss. Therapy, while often effective at first, becomes ';same old, same old'; after a while, for many people.





I now advise people to: (1.) Take 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily, (certified free of mercury) with an antioxidant, such as an orange, or grapefruit, or their freshly squeezed juice. If vitamin E is used, it should be certified as being 100% from natural sources, or it's synthetic, avoid it. (2.) Work up slowly to 30 - 60 minutes of exercise, daily. (3.) Occupational therapy (keeping busy allows little time for unproductive introspection, and keeps mental activity out of less desirable areas of the brain). (4.) Use daily, one of the relaxation methods in sections 2, 2.c, 2.i, or 11, and/or yoga, Tai Chi, and/or the EFT, in sections 2.q, 2.o, and section 53, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris whichever works best for you. (5.) Initially, at least, some form of counselling, preferably either Cognitive Behavio(u)ral Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavio(u)ral Therapy. (6.) As options, if desired, either a known, effective herbal remedy, such as St. John's wort, or a supplement, such as SAMe, or Inositol (from vitamin and health food stores, some supermarkets, or mail order: view section 55).





If the amount of daylight you have been exposed to recently has reduced, perhaps due to the change of seasons, see Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) in section 2, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris and, instead of taking around 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily; replace 2 of them with cod liver oil supplements for the winter months only! (or, as probably a better alternative to the 2 cod liver oil supplements: 1 teaspoonful of cod liver oil, with a little butter, to ensure its use; I take mine on sourdough rye bread, or toast, covered with fishpaste, and pepper, to mask the strong taste). Optimal levels are 50 - 55 ng/ml (115 - 125 nmol / L). It should be above 32 ng/ml.





Don't use medications and supplements together, without medical advice, except for Omega 3, which is safe, anytime. Omega 3 fish oil supplements: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid (omega 3) ----360 mg.DHA (docosahexaenoic acid (omega 3)-----240 mg


Take enough supplements to attain, or exceed the levels (no possibility of overdose) of those every day, with an orange, or the juice of a freshly squeezed orange, grapefruit, or other antioxidant.


(make sure the epa is higher then the dha) important for adults... kids need the opposite levels: more dha than epa, but all are beneficial, if you can't achieve the recommended proportions.





They should be certified as being free of mercury, and if containing vitamin E, it should be shown as from a natural source; otherwise it is synthetic: avoid it! Consider having your doctor test your vitamin D levels, (60% of depressed people have low vitamin D levels!) using the 25 Hydroxyvitamin D test. Those people who receive adequate exposure to sunlight, daily, won't need the vitamin D from cod liver oil, but many people, particularly those in latitudes far from the equator, find this difficult to achieve.





If the above is insufficient for you, after several months, (unlikely) try one of the alternatives, such as the neurofeedback, magnetic, or low current electrical stimulation, or EMDR therapy, (see sections 33 - 34) keeping ECT back, as a last resort.
As Charles Dickens once wrote, I think they should ';Get on with it, and reduce the surplus population.';
I think the answer is ';yes.'; In some cases, it should be treated with medication, in most cases, it should be treated with therapy, and in some cases, it is just a phase some teens go through. Teens don't have a lot of perspective in life and all the problems they have can seem like the end of the world. Studies have shown that medication is an effective treatment for depression in most cases, and therapy is an effective treatment for depression in most cases, but that medication and therapy together are more effective than either by itself.





Teen depression and teen suicide are serious issues, though, and need more attention.





Dana (M.S. Counseling)
if it is endogenous, ie not related to outside causes, it should be treated.
I'm suffering from depession and my brain hurts i don't feel happy what do you think i should do ?
I think it should be treated with therapy. It seems a lot (not all!) of teenage depression is caused simply by having no one to talk to.