Boarding Schools for Teens with Depression

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It is often hard for parents to know if their teenager is clinically depressed or within the normal range for adolescence. Teenagers are notoriously moody, dramatic, and prone to isolating themselves in their rooms. Many people blame these behaviors on "raging hormones." The teen years are indeed a period of rapid physical changes that cause instability. Besides hormonal changes, teens also are undergoing rapid brain development that will not be complete until their early twenties. These biological changes make teenagers more susceptible to addiction, risk taking, and mental illness.

Some teenagers are genuinely depressed and require treatment. Since suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers, no parent can take the chance that their child will simply "outgrow" whatever is bothering them.

Clinically depressed teenagers experience feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and despair. They often lose interest in school and other activities and sleep more than usual. They may have trouble concentrating or remembering things. Sometimes depression takes the form of irritability and restlessness. Depression puts them at risk for experiments with drugs, alcohol and as relief from psychic pain.

Sometimes outpatient therapy and medication are not enough to email data a depressed teen. Therapeutic boarding schools with their intense 24-hour interventions and structure offer a good solution. These schools offer a strict structure, so every student has something to do at any given time. There are set hours for meals, sleep, study, recreation, physical exercise, and class. Students are not able to spend long periods by themselves. At a good school, a teen will have individual and group therapy every week, as her family participates in counseling at home.

PROS
Living with therapists in a structured environment can help turn around a teenager's depression. It is more intense than outpatient treatment. Most insurance companies will not cover long inpatient psychiatric treatments.

Therapists help teens express their negative emotions in art, music, dance, journaling and so forth, and the school may offer interesting activities like skiing, horseback riding, filmmaking and study abroad. These activities can help a depressed teen.

CONS
If your teen is suicidal, you must thoroughly investigate the boarding school's level of supervision.

Some schools do not employ licensed professional counselors or the medical staff necessary to help teens who are depressed. Make sure the school you choose offers appropriate treatment for depression.