Hi Jerry,
Thanks for this article - I feel that not enough attention is paid to the unique challenges that boys face in our society. Two good books that readers might want to look at are "Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myth of Boyhood" by William Pollack and "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys" by Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson.
Deborah
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Both of my sons developed depression before they were teenagers, at around 12 years of age. The older one displayed all the aggression and anger you describe and tried to kill himself at 18 and 19. We got him both psychiatric and psychological help from the beginning, which probably saved him. He still needs to be on medication and depressive episodes get triggered by big disappointments and rejection, but I'm thankful he's still on the meds (he could still use therapy, but I don't get everything I ask for!). My younger son is autistic and developmentally disabled, so diagnosing depression was a bit more difficult. He was more withdrawn, although also displayed angry outbursts and threatened to kill himself. On his first visit to a psychiatrist, I discovered he'd lost 25 pounds over the course of a few months, so that confirmed my suspicion. He, too, is on several medications and has seen a therapist for years, although it took a long time to find someone who was really able to work with his special needs, in addition to the depression.
I know it's hard sometimes to know if teen behavior is just normal rebellion and angst or if it's depression, but I guess I would definitely recommend that parents talk to a professional if there's any doubt at all. My husband at first was reluctant to take our oldest in for an evaluation and was afraid they'd laugh us out the door, but I said I'd rather get laughed at for being overly concerned than find out too late that we should have paid attention.
Judy - thanks again for sharing this sensitive and personal information. I'm sure your experiences will resonate with very many people - even though they may not acknowledge it here. Your final point regarding seeking help and putting aside the potential embarrassment is a critical step and one I'm pleased you make.
Many thanks
Jerry
> sometimes to know if teen behavior is just normal rebellion and angst or if it's depression,<
Yes this is a problem because teens' brain does not develop till the age of 18 and fully until the age of 25. Young people are often stressed, hyperactive, moody, sometimes depressed and sleep irregularly not to mention hormonal problems. All of this makes it hard for diagnosis. But diagnosis is hard in any case even with middle aged people.
I tend to think that bipolar, depression and other mental disorders do affect teens but perhaps in a different way that is not clearly noticeable. I remember being affected by depression and mood swings from 6 years of age up. No one knew though.
Yes getting help in time is vital but it also depends on the resilience of the person. I never got any help when I was young and in fact not until I was in my 30s. But I am very resilient, I am a survivor, and just now, in my 50s, I am finally learning to control my bipolar 2 which manifests itself mostly with depression.
As someone who has a direct insight into bipolar and depression I can say that many young psychologists and starting psychiatrists, and GPs as well, lack knowledge of depression and bipolar. I am not talking about more experienced people like Jerry here but the young ones out of Uni who just start out.
They may have a lot of knowledge in the history of psychology, statistics, research and so on but lack adequate knowledge of what it is to have a mental disorder like depression and bipolar. I know this because at Uni I have met many 4th and 6th years’ psychologists who totally lack understanding of depression and bipolar disorder. It is a worry.
What I am saying is that perhaps Universities should have less emphasis on biology and research and more on understanding of mental disorders. I do feel that some practical experience is important for undergraduate psychology students. And today with websites like this there is plenty of opportunities to practice and learn.I believe the students who intend to practice should start practicing from their 2nd year up; and those who are going to focus on research or become academics should continue with the following curriculuum.
In other words, while diagnosis is important it is also important to ensure that mental health professionals have some understanding of the basics of depression and bipolar. To my amazement there are a lot of psychologists and psychiatrist who lack this basic knowledge. This is a concern because I think to myself: once good psychologists like Jerry and other older experts who have experience retire can we really rely on younger therapist given that evidence suggests to me that they lack experience and knowledge of mental disorders? This is possibly because it takes many years of experience to really understand complex disorders. Hence why students should start practicing from 2nd year of University onwards. And of course the fact that the biomedical model is still strong in Universities does not help.
I remember taking a young person to a GP. I was helping as a volunteer working for a charity organisation. This was a homeless young person who survived because the government is very helpful here in Australia. When we got to the GP the first thing this GP did was to rush for the prescription pad to prescribe anti depressants. I told this doctor that this was not the right intervention (this young person often took recreational drugs like marjiuana) and that I would need to ring up the charity organisation and the social worker there to explain my concerns. Fortunately they agreed with me and I took the young fellow to my GP who has a good understanding of mental disorders. As a good GP he does some practical work at the psychiatric hospital and studies mental disorders. This is essential for GPs because they have a lot of patients with mental disorders.
The moral I think is that yes it is important to seek help; but to know what kind of help is adequate is also vital for we could make the person who we are trying to help much worse. We all need more knowledge of mental disorders and this knowledge is missing. I find this strange for Universities, places that tend to overload student's minds with information, perhaps, in many cases, the wrong information.