Pediatrics in Brevard: Teenage depression continues to grow. Here's what you can do to help

Over the past few years there has been a significant increase in depression and anxiety in the general population, including school-aged children and teenagers.

While there are multiple factors contributing to this increase, one of the biggest for young people was the COVID-19 pandemic.

This led to the reworking of the normal school experience into an unplanned, unsupervised and often poorly-executed remote learning strategy.

Many younger children fell behind and were left without a foundation of basic math and reading skills; even after normal schooling resumed, the lack of basic skills continued to cause stress and anxiety and many continue to struggle to catch up to this very day.

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The cancellation of activities and sports led to a lack of socialization, exercise, fresh air and sunshine.

In addition, parents and children were often trapped at home together full-time (parents becoming de facto teachers) leading to increased family conflict, stress and subsequently anxiety and/or depression.

Fortunately, many of the causes for this recent increase have subsided, but depression still continues to be a problem among young people, particularly teenagers.

Understanding a teen brain (as best as possible)

The main issue is due to the "teenage brain" itself, which is still developing.

Many of the connections, or synapses, between nerve cells are “hard-wired” during adolescence.

Additionally, the protective myelin sheath that coats the nerve cells and helps improve processing speed continues to develop until the early 20s.

The amygdala, an almond-shaped mass of gray matter inside their brain, is responsible for reflexive, impulsive and emotional behavior, and it matures early on.

Conversely, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for strategy and planning (telling the teen if something is a good idea or not), doesn’t mature until early adulthood, even into the mid 20s.

This is often why teens are impulsive, spontaneous, periodically reckless, while sometimes also depressed and suicidal.

Additional psychological difficulties result from social pressure due to intense social interactions.

Teens tend to spend large amounts of time socializing to quickly find they cannot control the peer pressure and/or social attitudes and comments of others.

Quirks or behaviors overlooked or even encouraged by parents can be mocked or ridiculed by peers.

Teens tend to be less likely to sugarcoat criticism than adults; thus, they are more likely to participate in arguing, fighting and bullying.

Access to social media and texting can also lead to a barrage of disparaging comments 24 hours a day, leading to a never-ending onslaught of self-confidence-destroying commentary.

It is important to remain vigilant in knowing your child's online activities and conflicts with other teens.

Contact your child’s school administration immediately if you think your child has been a victim of bullying.

Moreover, adolescents have high levels of adrenal stress hormones, sex hormones and growth hormones, which influence emotion and behavior.

In fact, the production of testosterone increases 10 times in adolescent boys, creating strong romantic interests, and potential feelings of devastation if a relationship is broken off.

As a parent, it’s important to become aware of the multiple warning signs related to adolescent depression, including irritability, isolation, declining school performance, loss of interest in activities, inability to sleep and weight loss or gain.

Be aware that drug-abuse can mimic signs of depression, or it can co-exist with it as a means of coping.

Talk to your child’s doctor if you see warning signs, and consider drug testing and depression screening.

Only about half of depressed teens receive treatment, while 8 percent of those who do receive professional help are able to overcome the diagnoses.

What you can do as a parent

While even the best of parents can have children that struggle with depression, there are important steps parents can take to help prevent stressors that lead to it.

First, it is critically important to always keep a channel of constructive, non-judgmental communication with your teen.

Always know what your child is doing and who they are doing it with.

Age-appropriate rules should be in place so the teenager has less of a chance of doing something they will later regret.

Parents may consider creating a code word to be used if the teen is in an awkward or dangerous social situation that needs the parent’s immediate support.

Parents can also help teens by setting good examples.

When a parent admits a mistake and asks for forgiveness, the teen is freed to do so as well.

Adults who are generally kind to people tend to beget children who also show kindness.

It’s important to assist in helping our teens see real heroes in our society: those who choose to teach, to heal, to protect and help others.

We also need to be clear about how we define success, and to define it reasonably.

We can’t expect our kids to be perfect, and kids need to learn it’s more important to have a balance in life rather than straight A’s.

However, we can teach them to be self-confident by doing their best, showing compassion and becoming resilient.

Further, we should take concrete steps to make our homes safe.

If firearms exist inside the house, they should be locked up with the ammunition stored separately.

Medications should also be under strict guidance of the parent.

Parents can also help foster healthy habits to reduce stress for their teens.

Exercise, a healthy diet and plenty of sleep go a long way toward this goal.

Wholesome activities such as team sports, clubs or religious organizations can reduce aggression, hostility, drug use and risky sexual activity; all impulses which can be related to suicidal behavior.

Adolescents are under more stress these days than ever in the past.

Parents need to be aware of the signs/symptoms of depression.

Keep a watchful eye, a listening ear and be willing to obtain medical help for your child if needed.

With the right parental support and/or clinical intervention, most teens can overcome depression to live happy and productive lives.

Dr. Paul Tebbe is a Pediatrician at the Viera office of Pediatrics in Brevard.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Here's what adults can do to help ease growing issue of teen depression