Cause Of Chronic Major Depression In Adolescents

While there is no single known cause of depression, psychologists have found it to be a result of a mixture of genetic, biochemical, environmental, and psychological factors. Researchers have concluded that depressive disorders are illnesses of the brain. When a patient is believed to be depressed, brain-imaging techniques have shown their brains are different from those of a patient who is not depressed. The parts of the brain that control thinking, sleeping, regulating mood, appetite and behavior in a patient suffering depression will function abnormally. The neurotransmitters in the depressed patient’s brain will appear to be out of balance. Often times, certain types of depression tend to run in families. Genetic research indicates that the risk for depression result from the influence of multiple genes acting alongside the environment and other factors.
There are many different types of depressive disorders including major depression, persistent depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, seasonal effective disorder, psychotic depression, and peripartum depression. Major depression is classified by having feelings or symptoms of depression most days of the week. Persistent depression disorder, also called chronic major depression, is having …show more content…
Adolescents tend to experience the effects of depression more extremely. Adolescents undergo a different approach to diagnosing depression due to their difficult with describing the emotions they experience that fall into the category of depression.. Determining depression in teens only begins with diagnoses due to the fact that they will present many problems such as struggling with academic performance, changes in social functioning, and co-morbid psychiatric disorders. Many studies suggest that suicide is very uncommon in children and young adolescents, and that suicide in adolescents may occur without any warning