How Do You Treat Adolescent Anxiety and Depression?

It’s winter in St. Louis and, as happens every year, we’re getting more and more calls from anxious teens and college students concerned that they might have depression. 

Right off the bat, it’s important to know that we can’t diagnose depression just based on a few concerns or a phonecall. But it’s important to know that depression is on the rise for kids and teens, and depression is a serious mental illness. And, we can figure out some good next steps depending on what you’re noticing (which is why we schedule free 15-minute phone screenings if you’re wondering whether or not counseling is a good next step for you). 

Why do anxiety and depression go hand-in-hand?

Anxiety and depression can go hand in hand for many teens and college students. For some, one seems more apparent than the other and is more of the primary concern. For others, both seem to be equally impacting what’s going on.

What’s interesting is that some studies suggest that pure depression without a secondary diagnosis going on is atypical, aka not the norm. So if you’re noticing depression, you should be considering that there might be something else going on, too.

With anxiety and depression, many of the symptoms overlap.

You might notice that you’re having trouble sleeping (might be anxiety or depression). Maybe you notice getting stuck in certain thought patterns (seen in anxiety or depression). Maybe you’re avoiding people or places and thus staying at home all the time (again, could be anxiety or depression). You need to work with a trained clinician who can tease out what is contributing to what, so that you make sure you’re really dealing with the underlying cause of what’s going on.

Don’t forget: Seasonal Affective Disorder

It’s important to note that many people start to get gloomy in the winter, most likely due to a lack of sun and outside exposure. This can have a huge impact, leading you to feel sad or depressed and hopeless, or making you feel irritable and grouchy.

How we treat it: CBT

Whether you have anxiety, depression, or both, we want to help you figure out the best possible plan to manage it. That means building up coping skills and using the cognitive triangle to figure out what you’re telling yourself, how it’s impacting you emotionally, and what behaviors it’s leading you to. That way, we can figure out something more helpful to tell yourself in the moment, a better replacement behavior, or a way for you to calm down when you start to feel too overwhelmed.

Ultimately, the best way to deal with anxiety or depression is to actually DEAL with it, rather than just ignoring it.

We can’t wait for the problem to solve itself on its own. We need to make sure that we’re taking care of the anxiety and the depression before they feel too overwhelming. The best first step is to reach out to someone and talk about your concerns, figure out a plan, and move forward from there. We promise there’s hope!

Curious to hear more, or are you a little reluctant about counseling? Compassionate Counseling St. Louis provides specialized anxiety and anger management therapy for kids, teens, and college students. We work in Clayton, MO and serves kids, teens, and college students throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Couer, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. You can set up your free phone screening right on our website.

If you’re feeling really depressed, or worried that you might hurt or kill yourself, you need to talk to someone right away (which we’re not able to do here!) We really recommend the Behavioral Health Response Crisis Line here in St. Louis (314-469-6644) or the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255)