How to help a teenage son that has depression problems?????help me please?

Medicate him back to normalcy. Or strap him in the chair and brainwash him with therapy.

get him into the dating business. help him get a girl so he can raise his self esteem.

Roxiband is right, find something that interests him, something that he can express himself through. Physical activity is important, it elevates the hormone endorphins which create a more positive outlook (that and chocolate!). these days the drug makers are running the show; doctors get rewards from the makers for the amount of drugs that they can push. see a doctor for assessment but don't be pressured into drugging your kid. teenagers are suppose to be hormonal, excitable, sulky all those things - their hormones are kicking in - it's part of growing up. we have forgotten that and want to make it more manageable through drugs, but this is were character development starts. stay close with your child, talk, share, laugh, ask (not question), comment, share space and humor, play a sport or game, find and expand on common interest, hug and let him know you are there for him. never judge or put down what he says, no matter how odd you may think it is, talk about it and share your thoughts - why or why not you want him to do something. this is when parents must start to communicate with their child. (stress on the WITH). you've told him what to do from childhood and now it's time to discuss, not tell him, what is best (always as the parent, he has friends, you're the only parent he will have). dialog is the big turning point now. good luck to you both.

if he doesnt want to talk about it or anything DONOT take him to a councelor it will be worse. what you SHOULD try is spending time with him get 2 know him bettr and if he dont want that then invite him and his best friend or girlfriend by themselves to a movie

Prayer and St Johns wort.

Some more information would be helpful, if you want good answers...

~Cindy! :)

Oh, just take him to a doctor. And taking him to a doctor doesn't mean he will be medicated. Maybe what he needs is to just talk to someone (and no, it can't be you, teenagers in general can't really talk to their parents openly...actually, most people can't talk to their parents openly...)
Good luck. Let him make the decision about medication on his own, but of course let him know how you feel. But it's up to him ultimately. Personally, I wish I had had a parent like you...I was so depressed when I was 16, and finally got antidepressants at 18, and I would have benefited so much from getting it earlier. But he may be different than me.
Good luck...

running is the most natural way it releases endorfins(spell)(im pretty sure thats what is called) but most teens dont like running so medication and counsling is the next best thing it really helps A LOT ive been doing it for four years now

Hi Soadlover,

The best advice that I can give is to seek:

1. Professional psychiatric advice because depression is believed to be the result of an imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain.

Now depression is curable even severe depression. Although I don't know how severe your sons depression is he must be evaluated preferably by a psychiatrist if not already done and treated with meds and cognitive therapy.

2. Depression develops and overwhelms persons generally with low self-esteem, lack of sufficient family love,support and encouragement and possibly it is theorized a hyper-sensitive nervous system which is obviously inherited. Some experts theorize that the disposition of the mother during pregnancy can predispose the infant to certain genetic expression later in life, which causes depression by causing the sensitive nervous system that is inherited to respond acutely (sharply and traumatically) to 'perceived' negative environmental influences at home, school, play with peers or other emotional relationships.

3. Depression alone without psychosis (e.g. hearing voices that don't exist, seeing things that don't exist, smelling things that don't exist, believing false notions etc.) is treatable and curable and even with psychosis. Let no Physician, psychologist, therapist, counsellor, minister, boyfriend or husband convince you otherwise. Obviously there are persons out there without sufficient authority and expertise to speak on this matter.

4. Your son is obviously sick and in need of immediate help, hence your plea.

5. There is a God in heaven and he will help you as well but you must believe even a little and ask for his help for the sake of yourself and your son and any other supportive person(s) in your life. God is not punishing you in any way. Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament in Chapter 10 versus 17-end and I quote " With man, some things are 'impossible', but not with GOD, all things are possible with GOD." And many other scriptures from the Bible on faith.

6. I have first hand knowledge that people are healed of depression. In fact depression is fairly common in the population. More than 20% of Americans and possibly even 40% of Americans will experience an upsetting depressive episode during their lifetime. (Check this fact for yourself).

7. So God + meds+ therapy+family love, support and encouragement+ reduced responsibilities initially for him (family and school)+ patience (because the rate/time for recovery may or may not be easily predicted) = CURE even if he has to take meds for the long term. This may eventually be reduced to regular not necessarily an every day dose, e.g. from 7 to 6 days for the week.

8. There are some accounts/stories of persons discontinuing meds after a brief period or an extended period with little or no side effects. There is a mass of clinical data to support the view that very distressing side effects accompany coming off meds. Also the long-term efficacy of these reports has not yet been reliably and accurately established in psychiatry. Nevertheless, and trust me, the meds do work to correct the chemical imbalnce, but faith and prayer also do work else the Bible would not say they do. Be aware of some/many trying episodes with this illness however and get all the help/support that you can for yourself and I mean genuine/committed support.

9. However please do be wary of so called 'miraculous' healings/cures of any kind outside of sound medical priciples and Christian tenets they are disingenuous/false and are only marketing gimmicks and ploys to make money.

10. Please find an experienced medical practioner i.e. psychiatrist you are comfortable with and I pray insurance will help.

Good luck and God bless.

Hope this helps.

Barry H

well first of all why is he depressed? if you feel uncapable of helping him take him to a psychologist... sometimes talking is not enough... good luck!

whatever you do
do not put him on anti depressants or any stupid medical ****!
that will screw him up!
what you do want to do is find something to get his mind out of that state.
try some classes .. like kickboxing,art,karate,music.
anything that will intrest him ... but don't screw him up with pills!

if your close to your son he might tell u what is wrong but i would try to get him therapy or on some kinda medication

lock yourself in a box you'll be so scared that you'll starve you forget why your depressed
~toodles

See primary care Physician, have him evaluated; he willrefer you to a Psychiatrist if needed. The good news is medication & talk therapy is very successful & the earlier you get treatment the better.
http://www.nami.org/
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/MH/00068.html

Support groups help a lot also.

First, take him to a medical doctor to make sure the depression is not being caused by a physical reason. If not your family doctor will be able to help you find a good psychologist and then maybe individual or family counseling. Good luck...it must be so hard for a mother to see her child in pain.

The best thing would be go to the Dr. There are different types of depression, that a Dr. could evaluate and know what to do. :)

take him to the doctor - medication and/or therapy may be needed

Hi Sweetie,
Get him Help asap! Sign him in somewhere if U can't get anthing out of him! This is after all else & every one fails to relate to him. There's too many teenage suicides in Canada alone & be damned if R Son will be a Statistic in R Country. Do whatever mean's r available to U! Lock Him up on the
Physc Ward if u have too. I've been through
4 in the past few yrs. Plse do this to Keep him alive for his own Safety. He could just be Chemical Imbalanced, but that'll do it without proper meds.lol
LOL, Diana D

I'm 16 and i have depression. My mom and dad didnt do anything for me. They couldnt. The doctor prescribed Zoloft for me and i take that. it helps a little but what really helps me is music and expressing myself. If there is something that makes him feel better support him in it. Thats the only advice i can give

I just want to say when I was about 16, I went through depression, I was the fat kid, I was tired of not getting any girls, tired of being the center of people's joke.

American's need to stop with all this medicine. They want kids and adults alike to live in a drugged up world...why? So we won't notice what Bush and big business are doing (ok slightly off topic).

The point is, when I got fed up, I lost the weight, and boy has life changed, now I can't keep the ladies off me.

Find out what he's depressed about, and help him resolve the situation.

Please don't jump to the doctor route, all they want to do is prescribe some medication that ends up f*cking the kid up even worst.

Remember the drug for depression that actually had kids committing suicide? Is it me or does that seem like the opposite effect you were trying to achieve with an anti depressant?

It's ridiculous, whever happened to people who were just down and out. Now we need a drug for everything. A good example.... RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome). What the fu*k? When I was young we used to say "ohh my leg fell asleep".

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