How to help a teenager with depression: 5 practical tips

Adolescence is a turbulent time in which a series of psychological disorders can appear, such as depression.

In this situation, parents suffer from not being able to help their children as much as they would like. For this, here we will see a series of tips on how to help a teenager with depression that will help families deal with this psychological phenomenon.

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Tips to know how to help a teenager with depression

Many parents wonder how to help an adolescent with depression, but to do so, the first thing What we must do is delve into the very definition of this pathology and the implications that it entails. rigged.

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by a constant state of sadness and apathy, and that may originate from a specific event or from a series of experiences and characteristics of the person that have led to the triggering of depression.

Once we are aware of the situation we are facing, we can apply all the advice gathered here to be able to deal with the problem. in an effective way, providing our son with all the resources he needs to overcome the state in which, unfortunately, he has plunged. Some people will find some advice more useful while others will do so in the rest, since each case is personal and unique.

The important thing is to have a range of alternatives to find new help methods or some complementary to those that we were already applying, so that each person can select one, several or even all, depending on their needs. Let's, therefore, begin to develop each of the tips on this list to know how to help a teenager with depression.

1. Be aware of the problem

It is evident that all people have better days and worse days as far as the mood is concerned, and you can even have more or less long streaks in which sadness, happiness or other emotions. This is even more accentuated in adolescents, who due to all the changes they are undergoing on a physical and psychological level are more likely to experience those mood swings, sometimes very sudden and explosive.

So, as parents, we may be used to seeing similar situations with our child. adolescent and we run the risk that the situation worsens and we do not know how to give it the importance it deserves. This can happen, first of all, because we are not capable of realizing that what is happening to our son is something more than a simple episode of sadness. But something more serious can happen, and that is that we become aware of the situation but do not give it the importance it deserves, thinking that it will pass.

And it is that, one of the problems that psychological disorders entail is that many times we fall into the error of thinking that they will resolve themselves. And, although sometimes they can remit due to the person's own resilience, the logical thing is that they are treated in the same way as they are. would do with an organic problem, such as a bruise, a broken bone, a digestive problem or any other nature. Hence the importance of the following advice on how to help a teenager with depression.

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2. Seek professional help

As we anticipated, another of the keys to be able to face a situation as serious as that of a depressive state in our adolescent son, is to assess his state as necessary, and for this the most sensible option is to resort to a professional, an expert who knows this problem, such as a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

Thanks to your knowledge You will be able to assess whether the situation your child is experiencing is compatible with depression and therefore will be able to propose the appropriate treatment.

It is true that, due to different circumstances, some people do not request psychological help while suffering from depression, either because they are unaware of the functions of this figure, or because of the social stigma that still exists today regarding mental health, either because they prefer to explore other alternatives, or because they do not have the means to access such help, etc Each situation is very personal and the decisions of each one cannot be judged lightly.

What is certain is that in some cases depression can be overcome without the help of a psychologist, but with his help we will make the process easier. less extended in time, that the person acquires the tools to advance in his state and improve as soon as possible, and that the impact on his life is the least possible. Hence, one of the best tips on how to help an adolescent with depression is to find a professional who will give them the necessary guidelines to overcome the problem as soon as possible.

3. Unconditional support

Unconditional support is something that parents should offer their children in any situation, but even more so when dealing with a subject as delicate as psychopathology, and depression is.

A person plunged into a state of depression is like a castaway floating adrift in the sea. You might get lucky and find a board to grab on to and get ashore soon, but it will certainly be easier if you have someone to reach out and rescue you.

Support is always important, but it is even more so if it comes from reference figures, personalized in this case by the father, mother or legal guardian. Due to the characteristics of depression, the adolescent may be reluctant to receive help, that they prefer to be alone or that they even get angry when we try to worry about them and know what they need, but it is important that support does not cease, even if the response is not what we would like in a principle.

Therefore, if we think about how to help an adolescent with depression, It is essential to keep your hand out at all times. and give our son all the resources he may need to gradually improve his pathological state of mind until he finally overcomes his depression. The role of parental support is essential in this task and we must be aware of it to make the most of this valuable resource.

4. repair the causes

The next point would refer to the repair of those situations that would be causing the problem. This tip on how to help a teen with depression This may be true in some cases, but not in all., since we have already seen that this disorder does not always have a specific origin, or at least it is not as visible as we might think. For this reason, we must always adapt to what we know and to the guidelines that the professional therapist gives us in this regard.

However, if it is evident that there is a situation that is disturbing our child's mood to the point of causing depression, we must act on it. The casuistry can be very varied, and can involve everything from problems with their circle of peers, unwanted situations at school (such as bullying school, or difficulties in studies), a duel due to the divorce of their parents, the death of a close relative, or many other situations.

Obviously, some events will be more susceptible to repair than others, but what is important is what we do about them, make the situation have the least possible impact on our son and, above all, give him the tools so that he can express how he feels about it, what are his needs and, as we saw in the previous point, accompany him throughout this path, until he manages to get over himself, thanks to all the help received and especially his own work at regard.

5. Support from your circle

Although parental help is vital, teens often have an easier time listening to their own friends.

For this reason, we must make use of this tool and also ask for their collaboration from those people who are part of our son's closest circle of friends, since they they may have more capacity to "deliver the message" and be closer to him, and it is that adolescents often tend to maintain a communicative distance with their parents.

In this way we will achieve two things, firstly, our son will have more people supporting him, which is what he needs in his situation, and secondly, we will have powerful allies to improve serving as a communication link between him and us, in a bidirectional way, and therefore it is not inconsiderable advice on how to help an adolescent with depression.

Bibliographic references:

• Barra, E., Cerna, R., Kramm, D., Véliz, V. (2006). Health problems, stress, coping, depression and social support in adolescents. Psychological therapy.
• Leyva-Jiménez, R., Hernández-Juárez, A.M., López-Gaona, G. (2007). Depression in adolescents and family functioning. Medical Journal of the Mexican Social Security Institute.
• Pardo, G., Sandoval, A., Umbarila, D. (2004). Adolescence and depression. Colombian journal of psychology.