More Than Moody: Monitoring The Signs of Depression In Teens

The school counselor’s office is known as a safe place for teens struggling with all kinds of problems.

It’s not uncommon for teachers, students or parents to swing through for a vent session, a resource or even just a moment of solitude. But being faced with my own child’s mental illness years ago, gave me a new appreciation for the work that we do. To put it mildly, my daughter’s diagnosis of depression hit me like a ton of bricks.

Fear, confusion, shame, grief, frustration, anger, disappointment, helplessness.

All these emotions and more are common when you have a child struggling with mental illness. Only in my case, I was supposed to be able to help. I had always had a penchant for the helping fields, loved supporting people through tough times, but recognizing and dealing with my own daughter’s mental illness made me feel like I had no idea what I was doing. It had been a long time since I felt inept at parenting.

I remembered being a “moody teenager” so it wasn’t too alarming when my daughter, who’d always been a little shy, began to be more reserved, distant and emotional than usual. True, girls can be like that, plus I was committed to giving her a healthy dose of privacy, and validated her feelings so since we were still having the occasional conversation, I thought this wasn’t too big of a deal.

Looking back you wonder where it started. Hindsight may be 20/20 but I’ve yet to find the magic moment when things changed in our home. The truth is, like many kids, she has a family history of some mental health challenges that probably predisposed her to anxiety, which is a risk factor for depression. If only there was an early detection kit to tell you exactly what can be ignored and what to take directly to the doctor. But there isn’t any such kit. We do know that screening tools help and with those resources we can have more thoughtful conversations about what kids need.

In our family’s case, when the days became more difficult, more emotional outbursts and crying spells I noticed she didn’t quite have the bounce back that she used to. Here resiliency was being tapped out. She was less happy and more often moderately content. The emotional valleys were deep and the highs felt superficial at best. According to Diana Rodriquez for Everydayhealth.com, those subtle mood changes can be a key symptom for depression in teens.

Others I can see in hindsight include noticing that her room was beyond messy and her motivation in school dropped. Being that she was gifted, even lower grades were still better than most, but she didn’t love anything about school. That’s why the school system is a critical piece of this teen mental health puzzle. Kids who show up as angry, defiant, or distracted are often seen as problems in the classroom, but many of them meet every clinical criteria for depression. It’s so important that school professionals know how to see the signs AND have resources ready for parents when they need them.

So what can the school do to help kids with the signs of depression?

First, train your staff to know the signs. A comprehensive mental health and wellness program should include not just the health teachers and the counselors but all the staff who have daily interactions with students. Use this post to spark a dialogue or have a monthly awareness campaign that teaches staff about the signs and symptoms to be on the lookout for. If you can afford it, look at having a few staff members specifically trained in a program like Mental Health First Aid would be good too.

Next, the same way we practice a multi-tiered approach to academic success, invest time and resources into whole child supports. Screening children for mental health risk factors and providing targeted or intensive supports based upon the results that you see. Research has shown us that the signs of a mental health diagnosis can be identifiable in children years before they receive treatment, and by the time they do receive it, they are generally experiencing intense of complicated side effects such as school failure or legal issues.

Lastly, partner with families to provide school based treatment. If your community is fortunate to have a mental health agency nearby, for the cost of an office, many will partner with you and bill private insurers and eliminate the need for parents to miss work and drive kids to appointments during the school day. These professionals can become a valuable resource for staff as well, providing insight and suggestions for students needs. When outside professionals aren’t an option reduce the number of ‘other duties as assigned’ for your mental health trained counselors and social workers and give them the time and tools they need to support students with their mental health concerns.

In our family’s case, we had plenty of resources and support to get my daughter the help she needed, but as educators we may be filling a gap for the families we serve. Keep your eyes open and keep your school family strong.