Awareness
Early prevention and intervention strategies can make all the difference for teens with depression. In the light of so many teens struggle for years, even into adulthood, without the knowledge and tools that could help them in their hardest times. Here, I’ll talk about why this is important, and how you can help make it a reality for the teen in your life.
Early prevention and intervention
In this case, in order to understand why early intervention is important, it might be useful to use a parable. Imagine you have been wearing shoes that were too big (or, worse, too small) for you. You trip and fall all the time. For this reason, you have to take breaks from walking because your feet hurt. Your friends, though, never have these problems. They’re always on time, while you are always late because you have to walk extra slowly just to be able to get where you need to go. Then, one day, you find out that your shoes aren’t the right size.
Early prevention and intervention
As a matter of fact It takes a while, but you finally find a pair that fits you much better. Finally, you can just walk like everybody else. If you’d had this knowledge a few years earlier, you wouldn’t have had such a hard time every single day. Depression is like having shoes that are too big or two small.
Early prevention and intervention
Under those circumstances It makes it hard to do some of the simplest things (like even personal hygiene) that many people take for granted. A point often overlooked people with depression, including teens, often try to self-treat and self-medicate, even if they don’t have the language to know what they are dealing with. This, as you can imagine, is dangerous. It can lead to unhealthy coping techniques such as co-dependency or recreational habits. Therefore, it is important to deal with the mental illness, specifically. The first thing to remember to approach by encouraging positive wellbeing.
Early prevention and intervention
Unlike other health issues, prevention and early intervention strategies need to start sooner than later it can be hard to identify depression, so we need to be aware of the signs. As parents and other responsible adults, let’s pay attention to our teens and young ones. Look out for changes in behavior and subtle signs that something is wrong. For this reason, early intervention services for infants and toddlers may seem too soon. But the parent is the first to nurture the child well being.
Don’t forget that people with depression are often very good at masking; hiding their sign and symptoms so that they can fit in with family and society. They may not want to call attention to themselves or feel they are not worthy of assistance. what is the process of early intervention it would be impossible to list all the possible signs of depression, but here are some you can look out for:
- Changes in appetite (eating more or less)
- Changes in sleep patterns (sleeping more or less)
- Withdrawal from social settings
- Weight gain or loss
- Preoccupation with death or suicide (may be passed off as humor)
- Struggling with school
- Lack of interest in previously enjoyable tasks
All things considered, if you suspect something is wrong, find a medical or mental health professional that you trust and tell them your concerns. After all, these medical professionals and therapist will be able to help you and your teen figure out what is wrong and how to address it. In other words, they can help your teen find shoes that are the right fit.