Article 1 – Mental Health
By Michael Saphiro
June 1st, 2018
Taken from https://theconversation.com/teenage-depression-if-a-parent-doesnt-get-treatment-for-a-child-is-
that-abuse-95353
It’s estimated that one in five teens will have depression, but two-thirds of them
will go undiagnosed. Lack of screening for depression is one part of the problem in
children’s mental health, and efforts are underway to improve screening and
detection for depression. Access to care is another problem, as there is a severe
shortage of child psychiatrists in our country. Parents may also not see symptoms of a
mental health problem or not be aware of how severe the problem is, due to lack of
knowledge or understanding of depression in children.
These are several barriers to treatment, which are unfortunate. However, one
barrier that is rarely addressed is when parents ignore obvious signs of depression or
just don’t want help. Studies have noted that between 12-26 percent of
parents reported not wanting or needing help, or being unwilling to seek help for a
child’s depression.
Teens experience depression for much longer than their parents are aware.
There are several reasons for this, including the stigma of mental illness, and teens not
being forthcoming because they blame themselves for feeling depressed and don’t
want to upset their parents.
In fact, feeling like things are your fault is one of the symptoms of depression.
We are lucky if a teen tells their parent they are feeling depressed or a parent sees
warning signs and brings their child for an evaluation, because the depression is likely
far more severe than the parent realizes. Sometimes, we’re not as lucky. This is
incredibly hurtful to teens who ask for treatment and the message they get is their
suffering is not important enough to treat. Depression and its worst risk, suicide, are
serious and common problems in children and teens. Suicide is the second leading
cause of death in U.S. teens, resulting in more deaths than from cancer or any other
disease or illness.
In addition to deaths by suicide, depression can cause progressively worsening
brain changes, according to new research. And yet, even after a trained mental health
professional diagnoses a child with depression, some parents refuse treatment. This
can occur despite these teens wanting and asking for treatment. Some do not want
their children to take antidepressants. Evidence-based psychotherapy also treats
depression, but some families don’t commit the time or resources to ensure their
children have frequent appointments. In most states, teens under 18 require a parent’s
permission to receive treatment for depression. There are some exceptions, but in
most cases, a child cannot get treatment on their own
