Teenage Rebellion

            Teen rebellion is one of the most common complaints we hear from parents whenever the issue of children's mental health is raised. Parents of "rebellious" teenagers will often frantically seek relatives and/or professional services for help. When interventions are minimally successful, many parents experience strong feelings that are mistakenly targeted at their teenagers and professionals. What unfortunately gets over-looked are the underlying contributing factors. How did the teenager get this way? Did the teenager simply change overnight, or were there signs that were missed? Chances are, the problems did not occur overnight. And, unfortunately, once teenagers reach this phase, it is often harder to fully rehabilitate them. However, early identification and treatment of behaviors may de-crease delinquent activities.
             Depression can manifest as challenging and disruptive behaviors in adolescence. Onset of depression can begin at a young age. Childhood depression is a real problem, one that is often compounded by the common misconception that children do not get depressed. Risk factors such as abuse (physical, sexual, or emotional), chronic illness, and the loss of a parent at an early age (due to death, divorce, or abandonment) could pre-dispose children to depression or "trigger" depressive illness. Family stressors, such as generational misunderstandings, can also cause child-hood depression. Although not often discussed, young children suffering from depression do attempt suicide and often succeed. This number becomes more significant as children reach adolescence. In fact, the Fresno Bee (a local newspaper in Central California) recently reported that within the last four years in Fresno County alone, eight teenagers committed suicide. .
             The most important factor in identifying childhood depression is change. Any change in a child's behavior that seems to have no external or physical cause should be examined.