Depression is on the rise among American teens and young adults, with adolescent girls showing the greatest vulnerability, a new national survey reveals.
Back in 2005, the risk of major depressive disorder for teenage boys was pegged at 4.5 percent, and 13 percent for teenage girls. By 2014, however, boys' risk of depression rose to 6 percent, but for girls it soared to more than 17 percent, the survey found.
"These are episodes during which the adolescent experiences five or more depressive symptoms for a period of two weeks or longer," explained study author Dr. Ramin Mojtabai. He is a professor in the department of mental health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
A closer look shows that teen depression risk only started to edge upwards starting in 2012, with risk weighing more heavily on teen girls throughout the survey period. Mojtabai said the findings "are consistent with recent data on trends in suicide in the U.S."
[For more of this story, written by Alan Mozes, go to https://consumer.healthday.com...ly-girls-716848.html]
Comments (0)