How is teen depression different from the depression experienced by adults?
The short answer is that it’s not very different. As a matter of fact, as adults have started reading the book, many of them have remarked to me that the book describes their experience battling adult depression. They’ve told me that the book has really helped them to better understand their own journeys as well as the journeys of depressed teens. There are some differences for teens and adults if you consider the life cycle issues. As I said in the book, depression often hits teens just at the time when they are wrestling with identity issues. This often severely complicates that process. Adults may have first encountered depression as teens and formed self identities confused by the struggle with depression. Other adults make it through the identity formation period of life without depression, only to encounter it at a later stage in their life cycle. Teens also have less control of their own lives than adults, so conflicts in families may be more intensified for teens with depressio
