Depression among children and adolescents has been on the rise for some time, but has only been taken seriously in the last twenty to thirty years. While it is normal for young people to experience mood swings or sad days, clinically depressed youths may represent as much as five percent of the population. Improved diagnostic techniques and parental awareness have helped to expose this problem, and open the doors for more children to receive psychiatric treatment of childhood depression.
Unfortunately there is no single cause that has been identified for depression. It is known that there is a higher occurrence within specific families, supporting the idea that genetics might be a factor contributing to the biochemical causes of this serious illness. When a predisposition for depression is compounded with environmental and social factors early in life, the symptoms of this illness may surface in childhood.
Currently, we have a social environment that has a greater number of psychosocial influences than in previous eras. The argument could be made that this particular point in time has no more negative influences than prior periods. Even accepting that premise, the situation is exacerbated in new ways by the continual flow of information via the media and the internet. Current consensus is that low self-esteem is probably the single biggest factor, or at least occurs regularly within the symptoms of this childhood illness. The influence of viewing one's self negatively helps create a pessimistic worldview. The deluge of information regarding negative current events magnifies their pressure on children and adolescents.
In an economic climate with significant unemployment, there is an impact on the children and teens in affected households. The stressors of having one or both parents not working will only compound the child's lowered self-esteem and accompanying pessimism. The lack of discretionary income will filter down to children and impinge on their ability to pursue activities with their peers, along with a whole set of social problems. If the economics of the family situation extend to losing the family home, the blow to the children's view of themselves and their place in the world can be enormous. The uncertainty and displacement they experience are factors that will come into play for any child that has a tendency toward depression.
ART provides expert substance abuse treatment for adolescents and young adults. Action Relational Therapy (ART) was established to respond to the need of teenagers with substance abuse problems, and to increase the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment. The clinical interventions have been very successful in helping teens to stop using substances that are trying to destroy their lives. What is different about ART? Our mission is to improve the chances of staying away from illegal substances by identifying and applying successful coping skills.