DB Responses 4.2 Please write courteous responses that follow the Rubric (Excell

DB Responses 4.2
Please write courteous responses that follow the Rubric (Excellent) instructions. This instructor does not accept opinion-based statements, and Fact-based statements with adequate references and citations are needed. You must use APA 7 format at all times, and Opinion-based statements are not allowed. All information gathered from sources must be cited in APA format.
Respond to 4 postings. Your responses should incorporate additional information or ideas, encourage, coach, or add content to the discussion.
1. Athaliah Parker Depression is plaguing our young people and trying to find a solution is necessary. It is not uncommon for young people to suffer from depression. As the gentleman presented in the TED talk, we need to be able to identify kids’ mental issues. As a human service worker, the best course of action is to take the time to see what depression looks like in teens. I would have to look at statistics to see what percentage is suffering from depression.
I would need to identify the different risk factors and work on seeking benefits that can help to work with these risk factors. Provision of resources to the teen and setting up a support system. This support system will consist of parents, counseling therapists, teachers, and even those within the community. They have a lot of different programs, that can help to deal with social isolation. I know that having a peer group can help to deal with the depression of being alone.
Our agency can even set up a safe place, where the issues and needs can be addressed. I think about setting up different collaborations, within the communities that they live in. I could also present a training class or seminar, that helps to put a lot of this information into focus. It is not enough to just talk about it but to be about it. The key is to create awareness and allow space to figure things out while having the resources to do it. 2. Jennifer Scheller I don’t believe there is only one course of action because youth will be different based on the individual requirements of the young person in question, and not one solution will apply to everyone that is universally applicable. There could be more than one plan to help youth work through and overcome depression. Even though they may experience the same or similar signs and symptoms, each youth will handle and deal with the depression in their way. Some plans that I feel would be good for agencies are having peer support groups, offering support and guidance, helping them develop constructive coping skills, and connecting them with the services and resources that are valuable to them within the community. One course of action when working with youth who are depressed is providing a peer support group to help them work through the depression, gain ideas and thoughts from other teens, and connect with their peers who are experiencing depression. That helps youth not to feel isolated, and other people understand them. Sometimes it can be not very comforting to talk to a professional within an agency, and that can cause youth to feel more control with that connection. Peer support groups help members to feel equal and can help adolescents to feel more at ease to open up with their issues. Everyone in the group is a role model for each other and will empower others to problem-solve their issues. According to Pfeiffer et al., 2011, “Peer support services bring together non-professionals with similar stressors or health problems for the purpose of mutual support or unidirectional support from an experienced peer to a novice peer.” (Pfeiffer et al., 2011, para. 5) Coping skills would help youth to learn how to handle their emotions and solve their problems constructively. With depression, many adolescents are stressed and cannot control their feelings or solve the challenges they are experiencing. When youth get educated on identifying their negative thoughts and learning to solve problems, that can help lessen depression. I would also recommend a youth journal as a coping activity to help get some emotions and feelings out that make them depressed. It is critical to get youth assistance, such as a mental health expert or psychologist who may be out of my field, if there are concerns about a youth suffering from depression. We could all work together on formulating a strategy to help everyone effectively support that youth. Agencies have an abundance of resources that can get accessed online and also through the Agencies have abundant resources that can be accessed online and through the agencies that center attention on mental health and offer support and direction to youth and families. Often, individuals and families do not know where to go or what is available within the community, so providing them with services and resources that they can access would help the youth further. 3. Latarsha McCray Depression is a serious issue that can have a negative impact on teenagers. It has affected teenagers in significant ways today. Sometimes leading to suicidal tendencies among young people (The Jeff Yalden Foundation, Inc. 2018). Technology has contributed to the increase in depression rates in the country (TIME 2016). There are ways in which the agencies are working to make sure that they help teenagers deal with depression. The paper will look at the best course of action for teenagers suffering from depression. These ways include screening for depression among teenagers, providing the support and resources to help in dealing with depression, and finally involving the parents who restrict the use of technology in the households.
The best course of action for agencies when working with youth who are depressed is first to offer screening to identify teenagers suffering from depression. Screening helps early detection, leading to early intervention (Medscape 2018). Early intervention can help reduce symptoms’ severity and improve long-term outcomes. Treatment can also help teenagers develop healthy coping mechanisms and learn how to manage their condition. Screening can also help to identify other mental health conditions that may be present, such as anxiety or conduct disorder (Medscape 2018).
Agencies can involve the parents to regulate the time a child uses technology to fight against depression among teenagers (Mayo Clinic Minute 2019). The use of technology has been linked to an increase in depression among teenagers. A study by the University of Montreal found that teenagers who spend more than two hours daily on social media are more likely to suffer from depression (TIME 2016). Therefore, parents can help by communicating with their children and being aware of their online activity. They can also set limits on screen time and monitor their child’s internet usage. Additionally, parents can encourage their children to participate in offline activities and create a healthy balance between screen time and real-world interactions (Mayo Clinic Minute 2019).
The agencies can also provide support and resources that can help teenagers with depression to cope with their depression. This may include therapy, medication, and other forms of treatment. The pediatricians can be involved in helping the children to cope with depression by giving them a chance to open up and share what is causing the depression. It is essential to work with the youth to create a plan to help them manage their depression and improve their overall well-being.
Indeed, the best course of action for children when dealing with teenagers with depression is to screen them to identify those suffering and help them early before it progresses. The agencies could also provide the required support and resources to help teenagers with depression. Finally, the parents should be involved in restricting teenagers’ indulgence with technological devices. Depression can be difficult to cope with, but with proper treatment and support, children can learn to manage their symptoms and live healthy, productive lives.
4. Elizabeth Kessler One of the things that I think would benefit for agencies to share with families and programs in the community is to use the updated screening for depression and use it on all children whether they feel they are at risk or not or whether they feel they are showing symptoms. In the first video, we watched Dr. Collen Kraft Shares how important this tool can be when screening children and preventing suicide. This screening could show what level their depression might be, whether low or high, and I think it could be beneficial for prevention and treatment. It is still there if children show low screenings, just not as high. So agencies could use this to help create a plan to work and prevent it from going further. This could be beneficial for children, might be overlooked at having any symptoms, and could help them receive support (Medscape, 2018). This could also show the children who score very high that they need more services and support to help them. Without screening every child that is seen at an agency, it can be hard to just look at a child and see if they are depressed or not. Sometimes depression can not always be seen, or children will not always talk about it because they might just understand it or want to be judged by others. I think that rates going up is not bad because this means that they are being diagnosed and their symptoms are being seen, meaning these children could find support and care.
I think it is also important how children with depression and varying mental illnesses are how you talk to them and support them, as well as have an understanding of the adolescent brain and how they process hard issues. Challenging situations can be hard for them to process, making them feel extreme to them. Then with the use of social media, where they can access issues that might be causing them distress or harm, it can be challenging for them to escape it. So when working with these children, it is important to talk to them and see what is happening in their life. By doing this, you can try to find what is causing the depression, and this can help create a plan to help work with children with depression.
I think with this, it is important to show children and youth that they are cared for and valued. We need to try to help them work to believe this themselves. Creating a place where they are valued and cared for can make them feel open to sharing their feelings. In a place where children and youth are able to open up and talk about what they are feeling, they can be more likely to be susceptible to support and treatment. By doing this, children in youth can be shown that they are not alone and are supported, which can help them on their healing journey.