Teen Depression Symptoms: Real or a Call for Attention?

Parents should be required to have a degree in psychology before they attempt to parent teenagers. This little requirement would make it so much easier to read a teen's moods and emotional changes. When my eldest daughter turned 13, I thought I was prepared for life with a teen in the household. Then, my middle daughter turned 13 and the world turned upside down. Not only do teens exhibit some of the wildest mood swings ever imagined, each teen displays different moods and emotional changes at different times. My house is now a virtual playground for mood swings and I'm having the hardest time rooting through the attitude to find the real emotional problems. How can parents notice depression symptoms in a teen when they are always changing how they feel?

Real Emotions Versus a Call for Attention

Real symptoms of teen depression include sadness, withdrawal and poor school performance. More serious symptoms can include using pain to escape from school, crying inexplicably and general apathy for the world and relationships as a whole. Calls for attention are different, but they may mimic some of the symptoms of teen depression. Parents must watch carefully and recognize real changes in emotion in attitude as opposed to reactions teens have to parents and the reality that life doesn't always mean getting what you want.

Recently, I noticed a significant change in attitude from my oldest teen daughter. She appeared withdrawn and didn't make eye contact with me when I talked to her. I was immediately concerned that she was suffering from teen depression, but after a short talk, I realized she was just mad about a trivial decision I'd made as a parent. When we talked, she revealed, after more than 30 minutes of invasive questioning, that she was upset I refused to pay $40 for her 9^th grade yearbook. I explained that living on a budget meant making sacrifices and with four children the total cost of yearbooks would be more than $150. The $40 didn't seem like much to her, but when I explained the total cost and asked her where her yearbooks were from previous years, her attitude changed. She had no idea where the other yearbooks were and she realized that the pictures she'd taken throughout the year were more important than a book of pictures taken by someone else.

Making the Call is Hard, but Parents Have the Only Tool They Need

In many cases, parents can sit down and talk with their teen about life and how things are going outside of the four walls of home. Talking is an invaluable tool parents have against teen depression. When a teen realizes their parent notices emotional changes and cares enough to ask about things that appear to only matter to the teen, they often open up and talk about what's really bothering them.

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