Unfortunately, mistreatment or misdiagnosis of depression can potentially lead to catastrophic consequences for a teenage girl. Below are ten signs to help parents of teenage girls identify whether their daughter suffers from depression or not.
Don’t Miss The Warning Signs of Depression in Your Teen
1 - Anxiety
Teenagers who suffer from depression will often have a difficult time managing stress or anxiety in a proactive or responsible manner.
Parents: If your daughter seems to be overly stressed or mishandling their anxiety, then depression is a possible culprit.
2 - Frequent headaches
Since depression makes it difficult to handle anxiety, stress levels in a depressed teenage girl may be intense. Additionally, headaches are often a side effect in depressed adolescents who cannot handle their stress.
3 - Withdrawing from normal activities
Adolescent females who are depressed may show a lack of interest in activities they would enjoy participating in otherwise.
Parents: If your daughter has quit activities they regularly show interest in, then depression may be to blame.
4 - Anger or irritability
Anger, like headaches, usually ties into the anxiety that comes along with depression. As stress levels build in a depressed teen, they will often lash out at those around them.
Parents: If your child shows a sudden lack of restraint in dealing with anger, it is crucial to ask why.
5 - Difficulty in school
Depression can affect a teen’s ability to concentrate in school, regardless of their intellect. A sudden drop in academic performance may correlate to a state of depression.
6 - Extreme fatigue
The high-stress levels that come along with depression can leave an adolescent completely drained causing them to appear exhausted.
7 - Poor eating habits
If your daughter is truly suffering from depression, it may effect their diet substantially. A teenage girl may use food as a coping mechanism, causing them to gain weight. Contrariwise, other depressed adolescent females may lose their appetite, causing them to lose weight very abruptly.
Parents: Whether it is an increase or decrease, fluctuations in a teenage girls weight can be a warning sign of depression.
8 - Sleeping disorder
Depressed adolescents tend to develop some kind of sleeping disorder. For some girls, getting to sleep may be seemingly impossible due to the inherent and overwhelming stresses of depression. Additionally, an increased appetite for sleep is also prevalent in depressed teenagers.
Parents: Pay close attention to your daughter's sleep patterns to get a gauge on whether or not they may be depressed.
9 - Loss of interest in social interactions with friends/family
Teens who are seriously depressed will lose social benefits.
Parents: If you are a parent of a teen who was once a social butterfly, but now would rather isolate than socialize, they are more than likely showing signs of depression.
10 - Self-harm
Adolescent girls who suffer from being depressed may choose to be self-destructive and opt to harm themselves.
Parents: If your child displays any type of self- harm, it is most likely due extreme sadness they are feeling inside.