I'm writing an article on Teen Depression, so am taking a break for now from writing on Frugal Fun.
What are your experiences with teen depression? Causes, symptoms? What helped? What didn't? What information on depression among teens is lacking?
If your teen is hurting? Do you know what to look for and how to help?
It often seems that depression is one of the old "family secrets" to be hushed. But the reality is that it is real and needs to be talked about. It isn't going to just go away.
About one in five teens experience depression at some point and suicide is the third highest leading cause of death in young people in America. Our culture has put a lot of pressure on, and teens are incredibly susceptible to that pressure. They need to dress right, look right, act right, get the right grades, make the team, live in the right place, and have the right gadgets. And all of these external pressures are going on during the period of time in their lives that there are the most changes internally. This pressure often causes stress that leads to depression.
My daughter will be a teen next month. I hope and pray that depression is not something that plagues her, but I do not want to be misinformed or blind to her hurts and her needs. I want to be prepared to reach out and help her or one of her friends. According the the statistics on teen depression and suicide, chances are I will have that opportunity. And so might you.
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