Doctors should routinely screen teens for depression if the teens have access to treatment, according to a recent recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF 2015), a congressionally authorized panel.

The recommendation cited surveys finding that 8% of adolescents reported being depressed in the past year. Access to treatment is a significant caveat, however, and the recommendation noted that fewer than half of depressed teens get treatment.

The recommendation also noted that depressed teens “typically have functional impairments in their performance at school or work.” Teens with depression also experience “early pregnancy, increased physical illness, and substance abuse” more often than their nondepressed peers, and 19% of depressed teens ages 13 to 17 attempt suicide, the recommendation states (USPSTF 2015).

Educators often help link students to mental health services. Thousands of schools nationwide also have school-based health clinics that provide mental health treatment. Teachers should understand the signs and consequences of teen depression.

“High school students might not realize they’re depressed because selfcritical thinking is part of depression. Instead, teens might mistakenly think of themselves as bad students or losers or failures,” says D’Arcy Lyness, PhD, behavioral health editor for KidsHealth.org and an adolescent psychologist based in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Lyness says students with depression may:

• show a lack of energy and be irritable,
• withdraw from friends and family,
• not be able to concentrate in class,
• be defiant to teachers and other school staff,
• show significant weight loss or gain in a short period of time,
• engage in risky or self-destructive behavior (substance abuse or cutting, for example), and
• talk about death or suicide.

A teacher who suspects a student is struggling with depression should talk to the student’s parent or guardian and contact the school psychologist or counselor for assistance, Lyness recommends.

Have your students research and write an essay on the roles that neurotransmitters, genes, stress, medications, and medical problems can have in causing depression and how neurogenesis and depression might be related. Or, since it’s winter, students can write about how limited exposure to daylight can result in seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Then you can use the lesson plan on depression (see “On the web”) with your class. Sharing the TeensHealth.org articles with your students will help ensure they understand the signs of depression and how to get help.