Oct 15 2008
How to help a young person who is depressed
Since the launch of BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO, I have been surprised by the number of parents who have contacted me who are struggling in knowing how to best help a young person with depression. I cover this in some depth in BFTBToo but I wanted to provide a few suggestions here which might be of some assistance.
It is a difficult area, as quite often, there are many social and hormonal things happening in a young person’s life that sometimes it can be diffiulct to separate normal “teenage blues” from a genuine threat to their mental health. The thing that separates clinical depression is a sustained low mood (often combined with changes in sleep patterns and eating habits) everyday for 2 weeks. If this threshold is crossed:
- Always take it seriously
- Encourage your child to seek help by providing a list of relevant contacts (see http://www.iambackfromthebrink.com/resources.html)
- If your teenager won’t ask for help and you are really worried, go to the GP yourself and ask advice.
- Show love and concern. They need to know they have this when they are going through tough times.
- Take time to listen when your teenager wants to talk about their feelings.
- Encourage them to do things they enjoy.
- Take threats of self harm extremely seriously and call the Suicide Callback Service 1300 659 467 or Lifeline immediately for advice 13 11 14
- Make sure you do not keep a gun in your home or shed (especially relevant for farmers)
Where to get help?
The following may be of assistance
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (or equivalent)
- your doctor
- parentline (see resources section for local phone number)
- community health centres
- psychologists
- school and/or youth counsellors
Some parents can sometimes be wary of bringing their concerns out into the open for fear of what others will think. It is important you don’t let this get in the way of finding the best support available for your child.
In BFTBToo I also share a headhunting (my previous profession) approach to finding the best person for your child.
Valuable resources
Reachout.com.au factsheets
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=243&np=293&id=2157
As I found with my first book BACK FROM THE BRINK, first hand accounts of people overcoming depression are very powerful - it lets young people know others in there situation have overcome adversity. Reachout.com.au have a great list of these stories from young people. See:
http://www.reachout.com.au/index.asp?mci=11&mwi=1
Other help sites for parents trying to assist their children include:
http://www.headspace.org.au/parents-carers/
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=243&np=293&id=2157
If anyone is aware of any other good resources for parents trying to help a young person with depression please let me know.
Kind Regards
Graeme
