We were all moody teenagers once, so many adults with teenage children of their own are quick to dismiss changes in their child’s behaviour as puberty’s mood swings, teenage rebellion, or just giving their parents a hard time. Now that I’m an adult (or at least my age qualifies me as one), I look back at times I’ve given my parents a hard time for any slight I think they’ve made against me and feel so guilty that I want to go back in time and shake myself straight.

But don’t be too quick to dismiss the changes in your teenager, though. What you might dismiss as teenage rebellion may actually be a sign of a mental health condition that requires your attention or even psychiatric help. Here are the signs you need to look out for.

Teenage Depression: Overview

Around one in five teenagers will suffer teenage depression. Unfortunately, not all of them will receive the help they need. Teenagers handle depression differently compared to adults. While some adults can recognise signs and patterns that suggest mental illness and find the right help, most teenagers will need their parents, teachers, guardians, and other authority figures to recognize their suffering.

Teenage depression is more than your child being moody for short periods of time. The effects of puberty come in short blasts during their teenage years, but depression affects their everyday life and can lead to serious suicidal tendencies that can affect them later in life. PsychiatristPleastonSanRamonCA.com lists symptoms that may hint that a person has depression. These are some signs evident in teenagers that we will discuss:

• Difficulty concentrating, recalling short- and long-term memories, making important decisions
• Tiredness and fatigue
• Irritability or sadness and hopelessness

Difficulty in Concentration, Recall, or Decision Making

Your teenager may find a sudden drop in their grades because they can’t focus in class even if there are no distractions (their mind may be going everywhere, making it difficult to concentrate in the classroom) or they fail to remember short-term and long-term details they’ve studied for.

Photo by Cameron Kirby on Unsplash

Their inability to concentrate may start to affect their interests and social life. What they could spend hours focusing on, they can no longer stand after a short while because their minds are occupied somewhere else. And since they don’t enjoy their interests as much as they did, they’re more agitated, wondering why they’re acting this way.

Tiredness and Fatigue

Serotonin is a chemical in your body that regulates your mood, memory, and function. In regular levels, it can help you feel more active. But low levels of serotonin are linked to depression, fatigue and changes in sleeping patterns.

People who experience sleeping pattern disruptions find their energy levels changing. If you experience insomnia at night, you may not have the energy levels you need to get through the day and instead find yourself sleeping during the day. Some products can help reduce tiredness and fatigue, but this has its limits and only cures the symptom, but not the cause.

Photo by Aranxa Esteve on Unsplash

When your teenager experiences fatigue, they’re too tired to participate in most of their daily activities. This can trigger a chain of events that may affect your child’s overall mood. Lacking the energy to perform their daily activities can make them irritable. However, it can also manifest in your teenager being sad that they aren’t as energetic as they were, especially for the activities they like to do.

What Should I Do?

If you see signs or abrupt changes in your teenager’s personality, try opening up a dialogue first. If you have a solid relationship and good communication with them, they will most likely be willing to talk about what is affecting them. While depression can happen for any reason, helping them find a solution to the problems they’re facing can put them at ease.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Never make your teenager feel like you’re condescending or patronizing their problems. Teens are in that awkward age where they don’t see themselves as children anymore, but they’re also not old enough to make big decisions in their lives. With that being said, don’t try to invalidate their problems.

Remember, you were once a teenager who thought your life was over because you didn’t dress or look a certain way, but those problems don’t mean anything to you today. But at that moment, those are real problems for them. Instead of talking down to their problems, try to help them find a solution, so this wouldn’t be a problem for them anymore. This doesn’t necessarily mean buying material objects for them but helping them see how unnecessary it is.

Be kind when listening to them. Let them speak before asking questions. If your relationship isn’t as good as you’d like it to be, don’t force your teen to talk to you; instead, let them know that you’re willing to listen should they be comfortable enough to tell you.

However, if they don’t tell you anything, refuse to talk to you, and continue to show signs of depression, you may need to intervene as parents. Trust your instincts when you feel like they are starting to enter a dangerous phase in their life. If they refuse to talk to you, consider asking a school counsellor or going to a mental health professional to talk to your teen. Please don’t wait until it is too late to help your kid.