Adolescent Depression Symptoms

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• depressed or irritable mood
  
• temper, agitation
  
• loss of interest in activities, apathy
  
• reduced pleasure in daily activities
  
• inability to enjoy activities which used to be sources of pleasure
  
• change in appetite, usually a loss of appetite but sometimes an increase
  
• change in weight (unintentional weight loss or unintentional weight gain)
  
• persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep (insomnia)
  
• excessive daytime sleepiness
  
• fatigue
  
• difficulty concentrating
  
• difficulty making decisions
  
• memory loss (amnesia) episodes
  
• preoccupation with self
  
• feelings of worthlessness, sadness, or self-hatred
  
• excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt
  
• acting-out behavior (missing curfews, unusual defiance)
  
• thoughts about suicide or obssessive fears or worries about death
  
• plans to commit suicide or actual suicide attempt
  
• excessively irresponsible behavior pattern

If these symptoms persist for at least two weeks and cause significant distress or difficulty functioning, treatment should be sought.

Signs and tests

• physical examination and blood tests to rule out medical causes for the symptoms (for example: hypothyroidism, pregnancy, kidney disease).
  
• evaluation for substance abuse—heavy drinking, frequent marijuana smoking, and other drug use can be both causes and consequences of depression. Past practice in addiction treatment was to assume depression was only a symptom of use, not a potential cause, and it was left untreated. Research now shows that this leads to increased risk of relapse. If a substance abuse problem is found, be sure that psychiatric evaluation doesn’t stop at diagnosing this, but continues to assess depression and other potential psychiatric problems.
  
• psychiatric evaluation to assess history of persistent sad, empty, or irritable mood and loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities. Evaluation for other potentially co-existing psychiatric disorders (such as anxiety, mania, or schizophrenia).
  
• assessment of suicidal/homicidal risks.
  
• information from family members or school personnel is often helpful in identifying depression in teens.

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