A literature review on the increase of depression in adolescents - Essay Example

Depression has been a problem since the beginning of time. There are many different types of depression, but the cause, symptoms, and treatment are all similar. The history of depression can be traced back to the prehistoric time. The Hebrews thought that it was a punishment for sins and if one repented the priests could cure it (Hyde and Forsyth, 2002). Hypocrites, of fourth century B.C., said that the "humours"(blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile) were unbalanced. Claudius Galen, a Roman physician of second century A.D., wrote on Melancholia.

This helped improve theories of depression was the result of demons. Around the 1790s Benjamin Rush started introducing the thought that people with depression were sick and needed medical treatment not abuse. Sigmund Freud helped the public understand that depression "comes from anger turned against oneself." Now, in the twenty-first century, doctors know that depression comes from a chemical imbalance in the brain (Hyde and Forsyth, 2002) Learning disabilities or conduct disorder can put a child in greater risk of depression.

Therefore, treating one problem and ignoring the other will not help the child overcome their difficulties (Fassler 1997). Family must also play a major role in helping their depressed adolescent. Until the last decade, the commonly held view has been that depression affected persons in their middle years, and did not occur in childhood or adolescence. A lot has changed in the past decade. Due to systematic follow-up studies of children under treatment, and depressed parents, the onset of depression occurs during adolescence, and must be treated during adolescence (Weissman 1998).

Depression has a wide range of symptoms, from being sad or mad to withdrawal from others, or lashing out at others. Symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Attention Deficit Disorder