Symptoms and treatment of teen depression: Advice for parents | Forensic Files

in a teenager is depression more easily identifiable in how I feel or how I'm acting so I think that it's both but the
sign for a parent is the behavior so if all of a sudden your teenager is not doing the usual activities is no longer
interested in football is no longer a texting constantly with their friends is no longer interested in the food that
they like before or their sleep pattern has changed dramatically or their attitude toward school has changed those
are all red flags and I'm not talking about a day I'm talking about two weeks where a parent says there is something
different now certainly if a child tells you a teenager says I feel miserable I feel like I wish I was dead that is
something a parent has to act on I think that what all young adults and teenagers
struggle with is impulse control and the intensity of their feelings and simultaneously loneliness because of
that self-consciousness and so those kinds of impulsivity also affects the way they think so they freeze or they're
boiling or they hate you or they love you there's no like there's no that warm disappears it's always boiling or
freezes zero to 60 quickly right and in many ways they're like a Ferrari with bicycle breaks and so what you have to
do with a teenager is wait them out you don't minimize them you don't say oh you're not freezing or it wasn't the
worst day of your life today at school I mean that's silly you have to say you know things like how
can I make it better or what was something that made you feel better at school today or can you tell me the
worst thing maybe we can figure out a way to problem-solve once you make the diagnosis of depression the treatment
choices we have are pretty impressive so if you have if you treat someone with cognitive behavioral therapy that's a
kind of treatment that's 10 or 12 sessions a psychologist who's been trained in CBT knows how to use it and
basically the way we feel is affected by the way we think which affects the way we behave and if you could break that
cycle that's what CBT is all about and teaching someone that sometimes you have cognitive distortions that you think
you're ugly or think you're unlikable and that's your depression tricking your brain if you do
CBT for four weeks and the patient the teenager is not any better then the suggestion would be continue the CBT
which is giving you tools and add medication and the medication you would add is something called an SSRI you know
a prozac Zoloft one of those medicines that make serotonin more available in your brain
here's the best news 71 percent of teenagers who have depression who get 12 weeks of CBT along with medication get
better

Dr. Harold Koplewicz, a child psychiatrist and founder of the Child Mind Institute, speaks with CBS News' David Begnaud about the warning signs and treatment for adolescent depression.

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Brief Summary

Teenage depression signs, treatment options, and effective therapies are discussed, emphasizing parental support and the role of CBT and medication.

Key points

Identifying Teen Depression. Recognizing signs of depression in teenagers can be crucial for timely intervention.
Effective Treatment Options. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy combined with medication shows promising results for teens with depression.

Episode quotes

Things like how can I make it better?

Advice for parents on engaging with their teenagers.

1:29WatchApr 24, 2019

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