There’s regular sadness and angst–and then there’s depression. Depression is more than an episode of sadness; it causes a continuous feeling of unhappiness and loss of interest. It has the power to affect how you think, feel, and behave. As a parent, it’s hard to see when your daughter’s sadness has morphed into something that only a teen depression treatment center may be able handle.
When left ignored, depression can lead to various physical and emotional issues, making it all the more important to get help as early on as possible.
Recognizing whether your child needs help for depression
It can be difficult for a parent to discern between regular moodiness in a teen and depression. As a teen depression treatment center, we know what to watch for and have compiled a list of four red flags for parents trying to figure out whether their child is struggling with depression or not.
Length of sadness, hopelessness, or frustration
If depression goes untreated, it creates intense feelings of hopelessness, anger, and sadness that last for weeks, months, or even longer. A regular bad mood can last hours or a couple of days–not weeks, months, and longer. Depression can. If your child has been in this type of mood for more than a week, it may be time to start worrying.
Lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities
For a teen with depression, it can be hard to focus and make them feel as if they have no energy to go out and participate in things they usually enjoy. Depression can make an individual feel as if they can’t enjoy life. For example, let’s say your child has loved playing soccer since they was a little girl or child assigned female at birth and suddenly they just doesn’t want to play anymore.
She doesn’t explain why really, but just shows a general lack of interest in it all. Especially if she’s starting to withdraw from friends, family, and social interaction overall, it could be a red flag. If this goes on for more than a few days, it could be a sign that your child may need help for depression.
Changed eating/sleeping patterns
This may sound odd at first, but depression manifests itself mentally and physically, which means it can mess with an individual’s appetite and sleep cycle. Depression could cause issues falling and staying asleep or sleeping much more than usual. It can also cause an individual to lose or gain a lot of weight.
Sudden drop in academic performance
When things start to go bad for a student mentally, academics are often the first to fall. Depression makes it hard to focus, exert effort, and care about the future–which means that school is probably the first place you’ll begin to see signs of a struggle.
If your child usually struggles in school, that’s a different story. But if they’ve generally done very well, sudden falling grades can be a huge warning sign that your child may need help from a teen depression treatment center.
Solstice is a teen depression treatment center
Solstice is a groundbreaking teen depression treatment center for girls, ages 14 to 18. Our girls and assigned female at birth often grapple with depression, anxiety, trauma, ADHD, and other emotional or behavioral problems when they come to us. Dealing with these issues can get confusing and overwhelming fast–but we’re here to help guide you.
Through a unique combination of therapeutic programs based upon both traditional and holistic mental health treatment, we treat our clients with age and gender specific techniques. We strive to empower teenage people with the ability to believe in themselves and provide the tools and motivation required to instill these beliefs for life.
For more information about our teen depression treatment center at Solstice, please contact us at (866) 278-3345.
