Category: For/About Children/Teens

Understanding Teen Depression

Understanding Teen Depression: The Complete Guide for Parents, by Heather Schamis, MA, LPC (2015)

Understanding Teen Depression: The Complete Guide for Parents

Are you worried about your teenager? Do you need to know what’s going on with them? Do you think something is wrong? Are they sad a lot of time? Do they stay in their room all the time? Is school work getting overlooked?

This is the “go-to” guide for parents to learn about Teen Depression. This book is written by a licensed therapist whose clients are not only teens with depression, but she herself had depression when she was a teen.

This book will tell you all the symptoms that you may be seeing in your son or daughter. This is VERY important to know. You NEED to know!!

Let me help you distinguish if what’s going is indeed depression.

Survival Guide for Depressed Teens

When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens, by Bev Cobain R.N. C. (2007)

On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain ended his long struggle with depression and chemical dependency by taking his own life. His suicide profoundly affected millions of fans around the world who identified with the music of Kurt and his band, Nirvana. Bev Cobain is Kurt’s cousin, and this powerful book is her way of dealing with his death—and reaching out to teens with a life-saving message: You don’t have to be sad, discouraged, or depressed. There is help and hope for you.

Full of solid information and straight talk, When Nothing Matters Anymore defines and explains adolescent depression, reveals how common it is, describes the symptoms, and spreads the good news that depression is treatable. Personal stories, photos, and poetry from teens dealing with depression speak directly to readers’ feelings, concerns, and experiences.

Teens learn how to recognize depression in themselves and others, understand its effects, and take care of themselves by relaxing, exercising, eating right, and talking things over with people who care. For some teens, self-help isn’t enough, so Bev also tells about treatment options, presents the facts about therapy, explains the differences between various types of helping professionals (psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, physicians, counselors, etc.), discusses medications, and more.

This book isn’t just for teens who have been diagnosed with depression. It’s for any teen who feels hopeless, helpless, and alone. Clear, encouraging, and matter-of-fact, it’s also recommended for parents, teachers, and counselors who want to know more about teen depression.

Depression and Your Child

Depression and Your Child: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers, Reprint Edition, by Deborah Serani, PsyD, Professor at Adelphi University and author of Living with Depression. (2015)

Seeing your child suffer in any way is a harrowing experience for any parent. Mental illness in children can be particularly draining due to the mystery surrounding it, and the issue of diagnosis at such a tender age. Depression and Your Child gives parents and caregivers a uniquely textured understanding of pediatric depression, its causes, its symptoms, and its treatments. Serani weaves her own personal experiences of being a depressed child along with her clinical experiences as a psychologist treating depressed children.

Current research, treatments and trends are presented in easy to understand language and tough subjects like self-harm, suicide and recovery plans are addressed with supportive direction. Parents will learn tips on how to discipline a depressed child, what to expect from traditional treatments like psychotherapy and medication, how to use holistic methods to address depression, how to avoid caregiver burnout, and how to move through the trauma of diagnosis and plan for the future. Real life cases highlight the issues addressed in each chapter and resources and a glossary help to further understanding for those seeking additional information. Parents and caregivers are sure to find here a reassuring approach to childhood depression that highlights the needs of the child even while it emphasizes the need for caregivers to care for themselves and other family members as well.

Help for Kids Who Are Sad and Depressed

My Feeling Better Workbook: Help for Kids Who Are Sad and Depressed, by Sara Hamil LCSW. (2008)

There are many ways to help children who are sad and depressed, and you might not even realize how much you can do to make your child feel better. By working through this book, guiding your child through just one activity a day, you can empower him or her with the skills necessary to overcome sadness and low self-esteem and live an active, joyful life.

The forty-two simple activities in this workbook help kids explore their feelings and combat the negative self-talk that depletes their motivation and self-esteem. Based on cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy, and art therapy, this series of activities is designed to help children cope with painful feelings and feel happy again. Studies have shown that teaching these social and emotional skills to children at the onset of their depression can prevent it from becoming more serious in adolescence and beyond. Once children learn these skills, they will not only feel better, but also become more self-confident, capable, and willing to enjoy the best of what life has to offer.