Contemporary Teenage Issues

This assignment focuses on the contemporary issue of teenage depression, exploring the reasons behind it and the nursing assistance required to address the problem. It discusses the various issues faced by teenagers, such as depression, drug addiction, bullying, and academic competition, and provides information on the symptoms, screening strategies, and treatment options for teenage depression.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY TEENAGE ISSUES
CONTEMPORARY TEENAGE ISSUES
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1CONTEMPORARY TEENAGE ISSUES
Introduction
Adolescence is found to be a difficult phase for teenagers and their family members. During
this development stage, the person goes through various changes such as hormonal, mental
and physical changes (Salk et al., 2016). These changes sometimes make it difficult to
understand and diagnose depression that a teenage is going through. Depression in teenage
and adult are quite similar but teenagers are not able to handle their depression like the adults
and they end up expressing themselves in different means such as harming themselves by
burning or cutting and sometimes show suicidal tendencies (Brunner et al., 2014).
This assignment will focus on the teenage depression issues, the reason behind it and nursing
assistance required solving the problem.
Discussion
The contemporary issue and external stressor associated
There are several issues that a teenager faces between the age of 13 and 19 years as it is the
most difficult growing stage of life. At this stage they go through a lot of internal and external
problems, such as depression, drug and alcohol addiction, cyber addiction, bullying, peer
pressure and academic competition. These issues arise due to many reasons, that can be
parental force, educational pressure, misunderstanding, lack of guidance. One of the major
issues are depression. There are various reasons why a teenager goes into depression. The
reason can be development of feelings of insignificance and inadequacy within the person. It
has also been observed that school performances, personal life, social standing can also have
their role in causing depression in a teenage.

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Symptoms of teenage depression
Every teenage experience stress in some amount and some stress can be healthy. Many
teenagers are found struggling with significant amount of stress that effects their education,
relationships and other areas. These can lead a teenage towards depression. Depression in a
teenage can be identified by focusing on:
Behavioural changes
The changes can be in eating, sleeping behaviour and daily activities. The person starts being
restless, tired and angry most of the time.
Emotional changes
Emotional changes include trouble in thinking, remembering things and concentrating, the
person starts feeling sad, irritated and losses interest in activities. One of the major emotional
change is that the teenager gets suicidal thoughts.
Physical changes
Teenage with depression issues start getting sick frequently and suffers loss in physic.
Self-harming tendencies are the warning signs of severe depression.
Strategies to screen
The diagnosis of depression in adolescents is a very difficult task. It is important to provide
teenagers with a comprehensive assessment by a mental health expert. It can be performed
using MMSE or MSE methodologies which are used to screen mental health of a patient. The
evaluation session must embrace a full progress history of the person suffering. A better
diagnostic session includes the patient’s family history, school presentation and behaviour.
They may also perform physical examination to figure out whether the person is suffering
from depression or not.

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Treatment of depression
Treatment of depression in adolescents usually comprises of medication and psychological
therapy. The therapy includes behavioural and interactive therapies. The teenage depression
treatment plan should consider the person suffering, his/her family, school and all medical
issues. In many cases, teenage depression is often caused due to problems that are related to
families, so parenting skills need to be enhanced as an important part of the treatment process
(Best, Manktelow & Taylor, 2014).
Depression in teenagers can also effect in academics. This leads to academic delays may
require changes in the teenager’s school environment. These teenagers need educational
assessment in order to get a better result (Morris & Rushwan, 2014).
Adolescent depression treatments require medication in many cases, there are many
antidepressants that can be provided. So it is important for the doctor to examine properly
and assign proper medication for the individual (Brunner et al., 2014).
Additional assessment questions
Questions to be asked for assessments:
 When were the symptoms of depression noticed?
 How long he/she has been feeling depressed?
 Dose he/she have suicidal tendencies?
 Do the symptoms of depression affect his/her normal routine?
 What other health disorders he/she suffers from?
 Is he/she using any kind of mood-altering medium such as drugs, alcohol etc.?
Ethical parameters
There is several information that will be provided to the parents of such teenagers with
consent of the teenagers. However, several information such as details of their past history,

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any information that they are comfortable sharing with their parents and adverse mental
concerns, drug abuse related details will not be shared to maintain the autonomy and privacy
related patient considerations (Hoagwood, Jensen & Fisher, 2014).
 Encourage social interaction
Support options for adolescents encountering external stressors
 Focus on physical health
 Seek professional help
 Support during the treatment process
 Take proper care
 Understand their needs
Conclusion
The assignment concludes that depression in teenagers is a very affective disease and it has
been affecting huge number of teenagers. In order to protect the person from depression, the
symptoms should be observed at the early stage and immediate actions should be taken. It is
the parent’s role to be attentive to their teenager’s behaviour, should listen to them and
understand them. The parent should be aware of what all is happening in their life and school.

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References
Best, P., Manktelow, R., & Taylor, B. (2014). Online communication, social media and
adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children and Youth Services
Review, 41, 27-36.
Brunner, J. L., Wallace, D. L., Reymann, L. S., Sellers, J. J., & McCabe, A. G. (2014).
College counseling today: Contemporary students and how counseling centers meet
their needs. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 28(4), 257-324.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Knowing is Not Enough. Retrieved from
https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/family-health-history/
index.html
Hoagwood, K., Jensen, P. S., & Fisher, C. B. (2014). Ethical issues in mental health research
with children and adolescents. Routledge.
Morris, J. L., & Rushwan, H. (2015). Adolescent sexual and reproductive health: The global
challenges. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 131, S40-S42.
PEDIATRICS. (2014). Bell et al. Adolescent and Young Adult Male Health: A Review.
Pediatrics. 2013;132(3):535-546. PEDIATRICS, 133(2), 346-346. doi:
10.1542/peds.2013-3063
Salk, R. H., Petersen, J. L., Abramson, L. Y., & Hyde, J. S. (2016). The contemporary face of
gender differences and similarities in depression throughout adolescence:
development and chronicity. Journal of Affective Disorders, 205, 28-35.
Simpson, H. (2006). Respiratory assessment. British Journal Of Nursing, 15(9), 484-488. doi:
10.12968/bjon.2006.15.9.484

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Zambas, S. (2010). Purpose of the Systematic Physical Assessment in Everyday Practice:
Critique of a “Sacred Cow”. Journal Of Nursing Education, 49(6), 305-310. doi:
10.3928/01484834-20100224-03