There are many treatment options for teens with depression. Although at first, you might struggle to get a teen to seek treatment getting your teen treated early can help prevent a myriad of complications and health problems.
It might help to first talk to your teen about their negative feelings, emotions, and thoughts; that way, you can encourage them to seek help. It would help if you also considered talking to them about the different treatment options available. But first, talk to a physician who can better advise you on what treatment options to seek.
Treatment Options for Teens with Depression
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy involves helping people with social anxiety and other mental and emotional problems. A psychotherapist can help a teen with depression open up about how they feel and teach them how to deal with their negative feelings.
The goal of psychotherapy is to help the person learn how to control or eliminate negative emotions and thoughts. It also helps the person to learn how to identify triggers and what to do once this happens.
There are different types of psychotherapy. Knowing which one is most suitable for your teen will depend on the severity of the depression. A psychiatrist may need to first access your teen before recommending a suitable psychotherapy approach.
Medical Treatment
A psychiatrist may recommend a type of medication or a combination of medications depending on the severity of the depression. If your teen has chronic depression, a psychiatrist may recommend antidepressants, mood stabilizers, or antipsychotics on top of psychotherapy. These medications can be incredibly helpful in balancing their hormones and enabling your teenager to find mental stability, from where they can work through their issues in cognitive behavioral therapy sessions.
Family Therapy
Family therapy is usually recommended as supportive therapy. Teens who suffer from depression can recover more quickly when they have the support of their families.
That’s why psychiatrists recommend having a support network because it is extremely beneficial for the success of the treatment, during and after.
Group Therapy
Treating teens for depression is not an easy process. Aside from taking medication and going for therapy sessions, a teen with depression also needs support, motivation, and encouragement.
There is no better support than the support of people who are going through or have been through depression. The family does play an important role when it comes to supporting a loved one who has depression. But when a teen interacts with fellow peers who have or have suffered from depression, they are likely to feel encouraged, motivated, and self-confident.
In some cases, medication may not be a suitable form of treatment. You might find that group therapy and family therapy are more than enough to help a teen get out of depression.
Conclusion
A teen’s depression can affect the individual as well as the individual’s family. But with the right treatment and therapy, a depressed teen can improve his or her life and even feel hopeful about the future.