Arellano University Graduate School of Nursing
In Partial Fulllment of the Requirements in Mental ealth and Psychiatric Nursing !"RM PAP"R# PAP"R# !eenage $e%ression# A sim%le sim%le Fever Fever or a dangerous dangerous disease&
Su'mitted 'y# Mary Grace $( "stuya RN
Su'mitted to# $r( Remedios )( Fernande*
$ate Su'mitted# March +,-.
INTRODUCTION /!he light shines in the dar0ness1 and the dar0ness cannot overcome it(234ohn -#.5 6eing a teen is not as easy as you thin0 it is1 as you gro7 older life 'ecomes more com%licated( Sometimes1 you get lost1 you don8t 0no7 7hat do1 and you don8t 0no7 7ho to trust anymore and 'ecomes confused 7hich %ath to choose( 9ou8ll nd it hard to en:oy the things you once nd %leasura'le to do( And then you reali*e1 you8re no longer ha%%y( As time %asses 'y the feeling doesn8t sto% and then there 7ill come a %oint that you8ll discover something terrifying( 9ou8re de%ressed( !een de%ression is a serious medical %ro'lem that causes a %ersistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities( It a;ects ho7 your teen thin0s1 feels and 'ehaves1 and it can cause emotional1 functional and %hysical %ro'lems( Although mood disorders1 such as de%ression1 can occur at any time in life1 sym%toms may 'e di;erent 'et7een teens and adults(
Issues such as %eer %ressure1 academic e<%ectations and changing 'odies can 'ring a lot of u%s and do7ns for teens( 6ut for some teens1 the lo7s are more than :ust tem%orary feelings they=re a sym%tom of de%ression(
!een de%ression isn=t a 7ea0ness or something that can 'e overcome 7ith 7ill %o7er( It can have serious consequences and requires long>term
treatment( For most teens1 de%ression sym%toms ease 7ith treatment such as medication and %sychological counseling(
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In his 'oo01 A Relentless o%e# Surviving the Storm of !een $e%ression1 Gary Nelson uses his e<%erience as a %astor and %astoral counselor to guide the reader through an e<%loration of these and many other questions a'out teen de%ression( Nelson has 7or0ed 7ith many teens over the years o;ering hel% to those 7ho need themselves confronted 'y this %otentially devastating attac0er( !he author also uses the story of his o7n son=s :ourney through de%ression to 7eave together insights into the s%iritual1 emotional1 cognitive1 'iological1 and relational dimensions of teen de%ression(
Three Fastballs down the Middle (of the allwa!"# Looking at Teen Depression from the “Outside”
Part of the di?culty in ghting teenage de%ression is 'eing a'le to identify it as it snea0s u% on the teen( !here is no one ty%ical %attern that de%ression follo7s( !here are signs that may hint at the %resence of de%ression or a related illness1 'ut the signs do not al7ays coalesce into the same %icture( Some teens may live fairly normal %u'lic life and hide a %rivate
hell( @thers may %u'licly dis%lay the 7ounds inicted 'y the monster in their a%%earance and their actions( !he truth is1 it can 'e very di?cult for the average %erson to s%ot a teen 7ho is su;ering from de%ression or one of its relatives( At times1 it8s even di?cult for %rofessionals to s%ot these terri'le maladies( !hat8s 7hy 7e need more %u'lic discussion and education around de%ression and it related illness(
!he su'tlety and com%le
It8s hard to tell sometimes if one of the sym%toms is more from de%ression or an
@ther sym%toms include di?culty concentrating1 getting stuc0 on certain thoughts1 isolating from friends and family1 lac0 of energy1 change in a%%etite1 7eight loss or gain1 decline in academic grades1 lac0 of interest in normal %leasura'le activities1 e<%erimentation 7ith drugs or alcohol1 interest in high>ris0 activities1 out'urst of crying1 sadness1 acts of self>mutilation1 or even a sense of :ust feeling /stuc02 or /num'2( Some teens may have lots of each sym%tom might also vary from teen to teen(
Chen you loo0 at the list1 you can %ro'a'ly say1 /$oesn8t everyone e<%erience many or even most of those feelings from time to time&2 9es1 you8re right( As a matter of fact1 one of the %ro'lems 7e have today in hel%ing %eo%le understand more a'out de%ression is that 7e use the same 7ord1 /de%ression12 to descri'e t7o di;erent things( Ce use the same 7ord to descri'e the ty%ical feeling that all of us e<%erience from time to time as 7ell as the medical illness that 7e8re discussing in this 'oo0( !his dual use of the same 7ord ma0es it very confusing for the de%ressed teen as 7ell as those around them trying to hel%(
"veryone feels de%ressed no7 and then( It8s a ty%ical human feeling( $e%ression might accom%any the death of a loved one or some other signicant loss( A ma:or life transition li0e a move to a ne7 city or going o; to college might also give rise to tis ty%ical 0ind of de%ression( Sometimes 7e :ust feel /'lue2 for no reason( !hese e<%eriences of feeling de%ressed are short lived1 generally lasting for only a fe7 days( !hen 7e8re a'le to %ut it a7ay and go on( Ce feel 'etter1 more li0e our old selves again(
$All %! &ones Are O't of oint) (*sal% ++#,-" Looking at Teen Depression from the “Inside”
!he /Inside2 of de%ression is hard for teens and adults to descri'e and understand( Sometimes there is some crisis or event that ha%%ens and the %erson 'egins to feel very di;erently after7ards( Usually that 0ind of onset ma0es it easier to understand the changes 'rought a'out 'y the illness( !he
%resence of a triggering event hel%s ma0es it more sense as to 7hy the de%ressed %erson feels so di;erently after the event( It8s easier to understand 7hat8s going on 7ith the de%ressed %erson if feelings after the event can 'e contrasted 7ith feelings 'efore the triggering event( For most1 ho7ever1 the change 'rought 'y de%ression come on gradually and are much tric0ier to descri'e( !hey cannot %oint to any event and identify it as the trigger for their %lunge into the valley of dar0ness( Chen as0ed a'out the onset of their de%ression1 a lot of teens can only give vague ans7ers( !he de%ressed teens say they started to notice that things :ust didn8t come easily for them as they did at some earlier %oint in their lives( "verything 'ecame more of a struggle( Ma0ing friends seemed to ta0e more e;ort( Follo7ing directions at home seemed more di?cult( !hey felt sluggish and 7ere often accused of 'eing la*y( It 7as harder not to get an /attitude(2 It 'ecame more di?cult to 'e in a good mood( School 'ecame more and more /'oring2 3the 7ord almost every de%ressed teen I8ve tal0ed 7ith has used5( Chen de%ressed teens use the 7ord /'oring2 to descri'ed school it confuses adults( As adults1 7e 0no7 that lots of things 7e have to do in our day>to>day lives are 'oring1 'ut 7e still have to do them( Ce 7onder 7hy the de%ressed teen doesn8t gras% this conce%t( Chy don8t they :ust 'uc0le do7n and get it done1 'oring or not& 6etter yet1 if they8re 'ored1 let8s give them more things to do so they 7on8t feel so 'ored(
I thin0 the de%ressed teens have taught me that 7hen they use the 7ord /'oring12 they mean something a little di;erent( !hey8re trying to descri'e a fe7 di?cult as%ects of the de%ression( First1 it 'ecomes harder to stay focused1 even 7hen that8s e
mutilation( !he de%ression num's the %ain( "ven
7hen they8re doing something that8s su%%osed to feel /fun12 the de%ressed %erson can8t feel it( !hey go through the motions1 'ut fail to feel even the good feelings( !here8s yet another %art of de%ression that8s very im%ortant to understand( $e%ression changes ho7 a %erson thin0s( It doesn8t mean that it ma0es them /cra*y2( @n occasion1 de%ression can 'ecome so severe that a %erson might have delusional thin0ing1 'ut not in most cases( ere8s the 'est 7ay to descri'e 7hat I mean a'out the change in thin0ing( $o you remem'er the old question1 /is the glass on the ta'le half em%ty or half full&2 according to the old theory1 if you see the glass as half full1 it means you tend to 'e more o%timistic %erson( Donversely1 if you see the glass as half em%ty1 it means you tend to 'e more %essimistic( A teen 7ho is de%ressed 7ill al7ays see the glass half em%ty1 and 7onder 7hy anyone could %ossi'ly thin0 that it could ever 'e half full( In other 7ords1 everything tends to 'e shaded 'y severe %essimism( /I really am terri'le1 7orthless %erson( No one 7ants to 'e 7ith me( No one understands me( !here8s no 7ay I can do that( I8ll never get 7hat I 7ant(2 !hese are :ust a fe7 e
'elieve it( !hey don8t see 7hat you see( 9ou see %ositive %ossi'ilities( !he de%ressed teen sees only negative im%ossi'ilities( $e%ression also changes thin0ing in a 7ay that alters the teen8s e<%erience of time( !his change in thin0ing a'out time contri'utes to the ood of des%air in the de%ressed %erson( Aaron 6ec01 0no7n 'y many as the father of cognitive thera%y1 called this e<%erience the cognitive triad of de%ression( e divides time into the %ast1 %resent and future( A %erson 7ho is de%ressed 0no7s they feel a7ful in the %resent( !he de%ression ma0es it very di?cult to remem'er %ast times that 7ere good1 so they have trou'le remem'ering a day 7hen they haven8t felt the same a7ful de%ression( If the %ast and %resent have 'een one long a7ful feeling1 then o'viously 3according to their de%ressed logic51 tomorro7 7ill 'e the same(
CONCLU.ION
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