Girls With the Blues

Another report from Iconoculture...

First the bad news: More than 2 million U.S. teens suffered serious bouts of depression in 2007, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Reuters 5.13.08).

Now the worse news: Teen girls are especially vulnerable. Nearly 13% of young women age 12 to 17 reported being hard hit by depressive episodes, as opposed to 4.6% of the boys.

That's a huge gender gap, even if boys are less willing to admit their own unhappiness, as many experts surmise (Jezebel.com 5.14.08).

Comments

[Lisa Burney]

My experience, totally anecdotal, is that boys are not only less likely to self-report, they tend to present differently than girls. The boys I know who suffered depression had behaviors such as angry outbursts, aggression and angst, which are characteristic of ALL teens from time to time, but I learned with depression these behaviors are pervasive and long-term. The teen boys I know who are diagnosed and treated early thanks to insightful pediatricians, bounced back to lead happy productive lives.

What I'm afraid of is that too many boys are going untreated and abusing alcohol and drugs, which is a common coping behavior with un-diagnosed depression.

I'm concerned that these statistics could be misleading and encourage parents and professionals to continue overlooking depression in boys.

[Chris Yount Jones]

Lisa,
That's very insightful! Thank you for helping us see more than the statistics.
Chris