Adolescence: contemporary issues and resources.

Adolescence: contemporary issues and resources.

Introduction.

There are many issues that teenagers are currently dealing with, which may be detrimental to their mental and physical health. One such problem is depression, and it is defined as a mood disorder that could cause an extended period of sadness or loss of interest in some things. In 2017, it was estimated by the national institute of mental health than more than 3 million adolescents in America suffered from at least one major depressive episode, and this reflected that a good number of teenagers all over the world could suffer from depression before they reach adulthood (“NIMH » Major Depression”, 2017). In a more specific context, those who suffer from depression get affected by an array of external stressors associated with the disorder. Some of these stressors include insomnia which causes a lack of sleep among the adolescents, a variety of physical illnesses such as back pains and aching muscles, headaches, reduced tolerance to pain among many others, and the last external stressor would be suicidal thoughts that could result in death if not identified and prevented early enough. Despite its physical and mental external stressors, depression remains to be a social concept, and it could be handled from varied perspectives. This paper will, therefore, look at how it can be assessed and treated and then concluded by summarizing the main points.

The assessment of the disorder.

When it comes to assessing depression and the external stressors associated with it, nurses and mental health practitioners should collaborate and communicate effectively with other medical professionals around adolescents to get to the root of the exact problem they could be dealing with. There are guidance and counseling officers in school, social workers who may have come across the child among other social support systems such as a church or the parents. In assessing depression among the adolescents, these people or groups need to collaborate and establish if there have been any changes in the child’s moods or behaviors, or if there is any impairment such as adrenal and thyroid dysfunctions that the child could have suffered from that the others may not be aware about (Tompson et al., 2000). The intercommunication could be achieved through the creation of a continuum that all the concerned parties report to for future references by any professional who may assess the child in the future. As part of the assessment, cultural and ethnic aspects should also be included in the continuum as a way of evaluating depression in a child.

In addition to the above collaborative effort, there are several questions that doctors or concerned parties could ask the patients when assessing depression among adolescents. One of the questions would be how often the patient has felt hopeless. The other issue is whether they have contemplated suicide in the near past. The patients would also be asked how they sleep to see if they have any problems sleeping, and they would also be asked how their energy is, as declining energy is a sign of depression. The last question that could be asked is whether the patients prefer to go out or stay indoors to assess withdrawal or isolation. In line with the assessment and sharing of information, some ethical parameters may apply. Adolescents may be aged between 15 and 19 years. In this regard, when they are below 18 years, then the nurses and medical practitioners may not reveal information to their parents without their consent (Behnke & Warner, 2002). On the other hand, when they are below 18 years, then the law requires that their parents should consent on their behalf for the treatment, and as a result, they are allowed access by the doctor to any information to the child s health without their consent.

Support options.

To curb some of the external stressors, in a general context, adolescents suffering from depression could be encouraged to adopt support strategies like unplugging from social media, getting enough sleep, leaning on friends, making plans well ahead, and taking care of one’s body. However, in a more specific context, evidenced-based therapeutic practices could be used in treating depression among adolescents. Apart from using antidepressant medications, other, more efficient methods could be used. First, cognitive behavior therapies could be used to help the patients develop adaptive ways of interacting with their environment, thinking, and understanding events (Tompson et al., 2000). The Other therapeutic support strategy that could be used is interpersonal therapy, which mainly focuses on improving the relationships the patients have with others hence, in turn, improving any difficulties that could be encountered in the precipitated depressive periods. Psychotherapy could also be used mainly in cases where the patients may not be ok with the use of medications in treating their depressive symptoms. In this regard, all the support strategies covered above should only be offered in relevant patient care situations, which may differ across many patients. The patient care situations will mainly be determined by the availability of resources or the income level of the patients.

Conclusion.

From the above discussion it is clear that depression is a social disorder that could be handled from varied perspectives. There are many avenues or strategies through which patients with depressions could be supported, and this allows for some versatility among nursing practitioners on how it can be treated. In line with the availability of resources as a factor and also the fact that different patients may need various interventions, the treatment of depression could, therefore, be achieved by either the ADN or BSN nursing practitioners.

References.

Behnke, S., & Warner, E. (2002). Confidentiality in the treatment of adolescents. https://www.apa.org. Retrieved 20 March 2020, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/confidentiality.

NIMH » Major Depression. Nimh.nih.gov. (2017). Retrieved 20 March 2020, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml.

Tompson, M., McNeil, F., Rea, M., & Asarnow, J. (2000). Identifying and treating adolescent depression. Western Journal of Medicine, 172(3), 172-176. https://doi.org/10.1136/ewjm.172.3.172