Teenage angst can only go on for so long. For many parents, it’s difficult to figure out whether your teen’s behavior is due to something much more serious and long-term — like depression. Recognizing signs of depression in teens can be hard, but they may be more noticeable than you think.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, around 2.3 million US teens aged 12 to 17 had at least one major depressive episode in 2017. Of that number, only 19.6% received professional help. This doesn’t mean you should try to self-diagnose your teen as depressed, but to be mindful and look out for the signs. Understanding what these signs may look like, and seeking out the reasons behind teenage depression can enable you to help them even further.
Here are the top signs according to experts.
1. Drop in School Performance
If your teen is usually the type to excel in academics and is suddenly getting several letter grades below their usual, getting calls home, and so on, it’s time for a conversation. A sudden drop in school performance can be one of the many signs of depression in teens.
Depression can generate apathy for teens, causing them to lose interest in aspects of their daily routine, including school. However, do be wary of other possible causes behind the drop in school performance, like an undiagnosed learning disability or a bullying issue at school. Or, school itself can be the cause of teen depression.
Possible Cause: School Stress
As your child gets older, the likelihood of them facing stress from school increases. It may not even be coming from the expectations you place on them, but the expectations they place on themselves, comparisons to their peers, and their focus on success.
Teens can often tie their idea of self-worth to their academic performance, so when they do catch themselves performing poorly, they feel bad about themselves. Even if they are excelling academically, their focus on grades can be a great contributing factor to anxiety and depression.
2. Withdrawing from Activities or Hobbies
Extracurriculars and hobbies — sports, dance, volunteer groups — can take up a large chunk of a teen’s daily routine. If your teen has time commitments for activities they normally enjoy, but they begin to ignore or miss attending them, it can be a sign of depression. Try reaching out to see why they no longer want to participate, whether it be because they want to try something new or that they are suffering from depression.
What could cause them to drop from an activity or hobby that brings them joy?
Possible Cause: Bullying
When you send your teen out to play a team sport or join the school dance team, it’s a great way of giving them independence. However, you may be unaware of how they are treated by others, both offline and online. Your teen could be on the receiving end of bullying.
Being bullied can make a teen scared to participate in an extracurricular or their hobbies, especially if their ties to their hobbies is the reason they are getting bullied. Bullying can impact multiple areas of your teen’s life.
Don’t worry, there’s hope. Check out how you can help your teen if you suspect that they are being bullied.
Helping Your Bullied Teen
If your teen has already told you they are being bullied, take immediate action. Get involved where you can, contact school officials (teachers and administrators) and get issues resolved. Depending on how serious it may be, you may need administrative action to get the issue resolved for your teen.
If your teen is less open about their struggles, make sure your teen knows that they can always come up to you for help with their struggles — don’t corner them into confessing.
3. Significant Weight Gain or Loss
When a teen is depressed, they may take to extreme eating habits as a way of coping. This can be eating an excessive amount of food or just not eating at all. Rather than jump to conclusions or make it an issue about weight, approach them gently about the change — it may be linked to depression or an eating disorder.
Your teen showing a sudden weight gain or loss can also signal the reasons behind their mental health issues associated with depression and eating disorders. There are signs you can look for if you have suspicions of an eating disorder.
Eating Disorders and Depression
While they are not always directly linked to one another, depression and eating disorders may be present in your teen’s life. An eating disorder is tied to a larger emotional or stress-related issue, whether it be a current stressor in their life or a significant past event. Teens who are experiencing anxiety or depression are more likely to develop eating disorders.
Signs to watch for:
- Hyper-focus on food
- Sudden changes in weight
- Excessive exercise
- Eating large amounts of food, or severely limiting the intake of food
Another reason behind an eating disorder, and depression, is negative self-image. Keep reading to find how it can impact both.
Possible Cause: Negative Self-Image
Teens are at an age where comparison comes naturally. From comparing themselves to peers to public figures they see on the internet and social media, teens can quickly get down on themselves when they find people with “better hair” or more followers. If teens are connecting their self-worth to these features, they may be building a negative self-image, which is a common cause of depression among teens.
Is there anything or anyone to blame for a teen’s negative self-image? Perhaps…
Social Media and Depression in Teens
A study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology linked social media and teens’ mental well-being (depression and loneliness). A more recent study from researchers at the University College London and Imperial College London focused more on the behaviors associated with social media and how they contribute to depression. Behavior such as comparison and cyberbullying can be tied to depression in teens.
Learn about the dangerous connection between cyberbullying and depression.
Cyberbullying and Depression
Social media makes it a lot easier for bullying to take place outside of school. Cyberbullying can be quite hard to catch onto, but if you are monitoring your teen’s social media, you may see glimpses of red flags. Sometimes more bold bullies will leave harsh comments and replies to posts, or directly message your teen with ill intent.
Cyberbullying, just like its offline counterpart, can have plenty of negative influence on your teen. Not only can they feel isolated from their peers by being shunned online, but they can also have lower self-esteem from cyberbullying, potentially causing them to feel depressed.
4. Changes in Sleep Patterns
Your child’s sleep pattern can get pretty erratic as they grow older. Whether it be them spending more time on their devices into the late hours of the night or stressing over a growing pile of schoolwork, sleep patterns are bound to change.
However, if they are spending excessive amounts of time sleeping — regularly sleeping hours into the afternoon or having their night and day reversed — it should be a cause for concern.
A lack of sleep could even be contributing to their depression, find out how in the next slide.
Possible Cause: Lack of Sleep
According to a Standford Medicine report, the American Academy of Pediatrics called sleep deprivation in teens a “public health” epidemic as it threatened the health and safety of youth. They found that a lack of sleep led to poorer academic performance, depression, and irritability.
5. Displaying Reckless Behavior
You know how your teen usually behaves, so if they are suddenly sneaking out in the middle of the night, “borrowing” your car at random, and behaving more recklessly than usual, you should definitely be concerned. Don’t just chalk it up to the teenage rebellion talked about in movies — it could very well be a sign of depression for teens.
You may be tipped off to reckless behavior by your teen’s school if they call to inform you about several missed attendances.
6. Substance Abuse
Substance abuse is usually detected when your teen starts consuming large amounts of alcohol or drugs. This could be your teen just trying to experiment or succumbing to peer pressure, but it can also be your teen attempting to self-medicate for their current emotional state.
If you recognize signs of substance abuse in your teen, take action to get them the help they need — for the substance and for the possible mental health issues behind it.
Sudden changes in behavior are not the only common signs of depression in teens. Sudden changes in their language or excessive swearing may be another sign.
Possible Cause: Substance Abuse
Abusing drugs and alcohol can actually contribute to depression. If a teen is depressed, they can fall into substance abuse. If they are already abusing drugs or alcohol, they are more vulnerable to depression. Here are some common signs of substance abuse in teens.
Signs of Teen Substance Abuse
Your teen most likely won’t openly discuss their drug use with you, but there are still signs you can look out for, including:
- Changes in behavior, such as being more secretive
- Poor academic performance
- Evidence of drug use: rolling papers, lighters, pipes, needles
- Strange smells
Now back to signs of depression to watch for.
7. Lack of Energy/Fatigue
Plenty of changes in behavior can be chalked up to a lack of energy and fatigue, which can be seen as a possible sign of depression. With depression, individuals lack the motivation or interest to get things down, from everyday tasks of cleaning up after themselves to partaking in social situations.
There can also be other causes for your teen’s fatigue.
Possible Cause: Chronic Illness
According to the Cleveland Clinic, around one-third of individuals with chronic illness experience symptoms of depression. For teens, they may feel alienated from their peers because of their illness, or that their illness holds them back from living how they want to. Chronic illnesses can cause depression in teens, especially if they are having a hard time adjusting.
Possible Cause: Brain Chemistry
Teenage depression isn’t always caused by something you can see going on in their life. Brain chemistry can play a large part. Chemical substances released in the brain are called neurotransmitters and when they are abnormal, they are known to misfire. Misfiring then leads to depression. Low thyroid levels from preexisting medical conditions can create impaired neurotransmitters.
8. Self-harm
Self-harm is a blaring sign of depression in teens. Sadly, self-harm can be done through multiple methods (cutting, burning, starving themselves) and not always in visible ways. If you notice new or repeating injuries on your child’s body, it’s something that should be addressed promptly.