Introduction
Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses diagnosed among teenagers in modern times. The main distinguishing aspects of this condition are the lack of interest in the surroundings, distortion of emotional well-being, emphasized feelings of sadness or apathy, and no motivation to engage in any kind of activities (Dash, 2018). External influences, such as social pressure directed at the teenager or the lack of proper support, might result in the deterioration of one’s mental state. Therefore, it is important to identify effective ways to help the adolescents, who are facing this issue, to overcome the difficulties surrounding it and to provide possible appropriate sources of support for them.
External Stressors
When it comes to distinguishing the external aspects which directly affect the mental well-being of a teenage patient, the easiest one to identify is social pressure. This factor may vary depending on the surroundings of an adolescent: it can be virtual pressure or pressure from the actual social groups around a person, including friends, family, and classmates. This stressor is usually expressed by a teenager’s miscommunication with their surroundings, bad treatment towards them, or any kind of unhealthy social dynamics they could be involved in. Since teenagers are quite vulnerable to people’s general opinion about them, they might require more social validation than people from other age groups and be more affected in the case of not receiving it (Peñate et al., 2020). Therefore, experienced social pressure could be identified by observing adolescents’ behavior around their peers, and by tracking their emotional balance within their interactions.
Another important contribution to the deterioration of one’s mental health could specifically be online activity. According to Miller (2020): “Teenage and young adult users who spend the most time on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms were shown to have a substantially (from 13 to 66 percent) higher rate of reported depression than those who spent the least time” (p.1). These statistics directly display an evident correlation between social media and its impact on teenagers’ mental health. However, this connection does not necessarily mean that adolescents’ time online causes depression; it rather implies that certain factors which are present within their virtual routine act as stressors to their mental health.
External influences could easily lead to inner problems that contribute to depression progression. For example, the misuse of social media or the occurring wrong time management might lead a teenager to constant sleep deprivation, which has consequences on one’s mental health. The lack of sleep exhausts a person and makes their nervous system way more vulnerable to external influences such as social pressure mentioned before (Miller, 2020). Like this, one external stressor may cause other various factors to occur, and the combination of all of the minor influences shapes adolescents’ issues with depression.
Identification
To recognize the specific problem, the specialist needs to approach the task from two perspectives: internal and external. The external part entails identifying the stressors from a patient’s surroundings, such as social pressure, unhealthy relationship dynamics, or abuse of social media, which might affect their well-being. At the same time, the internal perspective implies that the specialist lets the patient thoroughly explain how they are feeling, how external stressors affect them, and what changes they observe in their behavior (Peñate, et al., 2020). This way, both the internal and external contexts of a teenager’s life can clarify whether they are struggling with a mental illness.
At the same time, specialists need to be gentle and trustworthy when treating adolescents. As teenagers are usually more socially vulnerable than other age groups, they tend to seek confidentiality and reassurance more expressively (Peñate, et al., 2020). Although it is important to provide a patient with the guarantee of the confidentiality of an appointment, it is also crucial to notify their guardians in case a patient could be dangerous to themselves. Therefore, while treating an adolescent, the specialist needs to constantly evaluate the extent of confidentiality and maintain trust, while making sure that the patient is aware of possible notification of the guardians.
Support
While treating a teenager with depression, it is important to maintain the link between the cause of the mental illness’ progression and the treatment. It might not be enough to solely focus on external factors which contributed to the deterioration of depression, as one’s interaction with these factors is always multifaceted. For example, if the specialist takes into consideration that a distinguished external stressor for a teenager is social media, it might not necessarily mean that the patient should be restricted from using it. As Dennis-Tiwary (2018) wrote: “Just blaming the machines is a cop-out, a way to avoid the much more difficult task of improving young people’s lives so they won’t need to escape” (p.2). Instead of restrictions, the patient should be provided with understanding and support.
It has been mentioned already that adolescents are quite vulnerable to social interactions. Therefore, therapy is one of the most effective ways of support for teenagers suffering from depression, since it gives them a safe space where they could openly express their feelings (Peñate, et al., 2020). This way, they could learn to identify their own emotions and to be open about it with other people, even if it would be their treating specialist at first.
Conclusion
In the end, the most important steps within the process of depression treatment are identifying external stressors, finding proper ways of supporting a patient, and subsequently providing this support. Although there are a lot of factors that might impact the deterioration of mental illnesses in teenagers, the most important part of the treatment process is the patient’s journey of dealing with their feelings. This way, efficient help can be provided to adolescents with this issue by giving them the understanding and support they need.
References
Dash, S. (2018). Young adults with depression — are we paying attention? — a review on depression in teenagers in the 21st Century. Life Research, 1(2), 32-39.
Dennis-Tiwary, T. A. (2018). Taking away the phones won’t solve our teenagers’ problems. The New York Times.
Miller, C. (2020). Does social media cause depression. Child Mind Institute, 11.
Peñate, W., González-Loyola, M., & Oyanadel, C. (2020). The predictive role of affectivity, self-esteem and social support in depression and anxiety in children and adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 6984.