Late in 2015, a federal advisory group encouraged doctors to
screen teens for major depression. However, they threw in a caveat and said
only if teens have access to mental health services. This caveat is important
because it will do no good if a teen is identified by a medical doctor as
having depression but then doesn't have a mental health provider who can
properly diagnose and treat depression.
There's a reason why this issue continues to come up among
public health officials. And that is about thousands of teens who have
depression never get treated. In fact, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (a panel of experts who advise
the federal government on medicine and health policy) only 36% to 44% of
children and adolescents with depression receive treatment.
What makes matters worse is that untreated teen depression
can get worse over time. It can lead to suicidal thinking and attempts of
suicide. In some cases, teens lose their lives when it could have been
prevented with mental health treatment. Furthermore, untreated depression also
poses risks to teens, such as increasing the risk of sexual activity,
pregnancy, and substance use.
For all these reasons and more, screenings for mental
illness has been a recommendation by federal health officials for over a
decade. However, it is still not mandatory partly because of the necessity for
adequate mental health services for those who are screened and identified. But
also because of the costs that come with screening.
Despite the clear benefits to screening teens, there are also
some disadvantages. For instance, some parents are concerned that there will be
over-diagnosis of teens as well as giving them life-long labels that they will
have to bear. Another significant concern of many families is the fear that
screenings will uncover illnesses in their teens that they do not have the
financial resources or health insurance coverage to treat. There is also the
problem of false positives – teens who appear to have a problem but don’t and
are asked to participate in therapy and/or take medication. And lastly, some
parents simply do not want their children treated despite a screening that
pointed to a psychological disorder. Although there are some obvious reasons to
screen teens for depression, many families have legitimate concerns.
Despite the concerns and disadvantages to screening, public
health officials recommend that doctors have teens sit down at a computer and
fill out a short survey about their mental health. Yet, at this time, most
medical doctors are not screening
adolescents for depression. There are some schools, however, such as those throughout
Baltimore and Chicago that do extensive screening of their students. Students
fill out short questionnaires, such as in Minnesota where they are required to
answer anonymous surveys about drug use and depression.
If you suspect that your teen is showing signs of
depression, don't wait for a school administrator or medical doctor to share
their opinion. Instead, take your teen to a mental health provider or visit the
school counselor for information on how to get mental health for your teen.
