More Than Moping?

If there’s one thing teenagers are good at - it’s moping. I was a champion moper as a teenager, and I can still mope with the best of them. This time of year is especially good for moping. It still gets dark by 5:15 so what else are you gonna do all evening? But there comes a time when the moping should cease. (It’s kind of funny when you say the word “mope” enough times it doesn’t sound like a word anymore.) What everyone passed off as moping back in the ‘70’s when I was a teenager is now known and diagnosed as clinical depression. Depression is a real illness and not a fun one. It comes and goes but fortunately there are now very effective medical treatments for it. As someone who has been afflicted with depression, and knowing there are some genetic links, I am ever-vigilant for signs of it in my child. So when he mopes for more than a day or two I struggle to find a balance between his need for privacy and his ability to work out his issues on his own time and in his own way, and being concerned it may be something bigger. Fortunately, so far it’s just moping. But I will continue to watch and talk to him about depression and what it means and what to do about it. If you suspect your child’s moping is something more, or want to find out about symptoms of depression, there is some excellent information here. This time of year tends to trigger depression and a related ailment known as “seasonal affective disorder” or SAD. As parents, I urge you to be aware of the line between age-appropriate moping and something bigger and more serious. Talk to your kid (yeah, that’ll be easy!) or your family doctor if you have reason to suspect the moping could be something more.