Teen Depression Prevention

Periods of depressed mood are common in most adolescents...

However, supportive interpersonal relationships and healthy coping skills should help to prevent these testy adolescence periods from leading to more severe depressive symptoms. You should have open communication with your teenager so you can help identify depression earlier.

Counseling may help teens deal with periods of low mood. Cognitive behavioral therapy, which teaches depressed people ways of fighting negative thoughts and recognizing them as symptoms, not the truth about their world, is the most effective non-medication treatment for depression. Ensure that counselors or psychologists sought are trained in this method.

For adolescents with a strong family history of depression, or with multiple risk factors, episodes of depression may not be preventable. For these teens, early identification and prompt and comprehensive treatment of depression may prevent or postpone further episodes.

Sources : National Institutes of Health