Adolescent Wellness acts immediately on medical research findings in depression prevention with pilot programming.  Our goal is to simplify depression prevention and reduce the typical lag of ten years between research and standard practice. The serious consequences of depression in adolescents emphasize the need to address mental health needs from a preventive perspective. More than 800,000 American teenagers suffer from depression each year. Sixty to eighty percent of adolescents with depression go undiagnosed or untreated - and untreated depression can lead to deteriorating schoolwork, high absenteeism, dropping out, and strained peer and adult relationships. Having suffered from depression as children, these young people are much more vulnerable to depression as adults.

• As many as 24% of adolescents will experience a depressive episode by the age of 24 years, with a median onset age of 15 years (Van Voorhees,Paunesku, Gollan, Kuwabara, Reinecke, & Basu, 2008)
• Among adolescents suffering from depression, only about 25% receive treatment (Garber et al., 2009)
• Depressive disorders in adolescence are the largest single contributor to suicide risk during this period (Van Voorhees et al., 2008)

In the United States,

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25 to 34 year olds, and the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds  (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006)
• More than 500,000 adolescents make a suicide attempt that requires medical attention (Columbia University, 2003)
• Depressive disorders in adolescence are the largest single contributor to suicide risk during this period (Van Voorhees et al., 2008)

While these statistics are alarming, there is evidence for the strong potential of prevention programming in reducing symptoms of depression and risk for suicide.

• Studies indicate that prevention programs may reduce the incidence of depressive episodes and self-reported depressive symptoms in adolescents with high familial and individual risk for depression (Garber et al., 2009)
• Early recognition and treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses appears to be the best way to prevent suicide (American Foundation Suicide Prevention, 2008)

Rather than waiting for symptoms to develop, education activities can prevent a significant number of cases of depression.  As one example, risk factors associated with mental illness include poor problem solving skills, inability to generate alternative solutions, elevated levels of stress and poor coping skills.  Through prevention programming, all ages can learn how to frame problems, create more options and become better problem solvers. For those who do still develop symptoms - the majority of which emerge during adolescence - education increases awareness, resilience, and coping skills with the purpose of promoting early recognition and intervention in order to prevent serious crises from occurring. Treatment is effective for the majority of adolescents who develop symptoms of depression.

Depression prevention education is taught using resources from the School Curricula page at leading schools such as grade 7-12 Roxbury Latin (West Roxbury, MA), which consistently ranks among the best secondary schools in the country.   

Health education also occurs outside of schools.

• Parents and youth can partner with their pediatrician during each well child visit by discussing assessment such as the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) to flag common symptoms of depression in youth such as recurring headache or stomach ache and irritability. For more suggestions, view the information within the  Parent Resources page of this website.
• Clergy and youth leaders can help prevent depression by building wellness skills and referral.  Resources may be found through the Peer Leadership  page