In the first 2024 issue of the Scientific American, there is an article that explores early intervention programs in high schools to prevent the development of depression in teens. As part of the content, Svoboda (2024) set forth some facts about depression that make clear the importance of early intervention. She mentioned a Brown University psychology professor who described depression as "a chronic episodic illness, and relapse is very common " (p. 52). If its early episodes can be headed off, perhaps its chronicity can also be averted.
Young people are most likely to have their first symptoms of depression before age 20. It is especially important to interfere with the full development of an episode in adolescence because brain changes during this time of life may make teens particularly vulnerable to depression. While the brain is developing, permanent additional changes may also occur to brain tissue that will make future episodes more likely. Since the COVID pandemic, 42% of U. S. high schoolers say that they experience lasting sadness or hopelessness, more than the 28% from the previous decade.
The earlier the onset and the more episodes that occur, the more serious and debilitating depression will probably be throughout one's life. After the first episode, there is a 40% to 60% chance of another one. With a second episode, there is a 60% to 70% likelihood of another. Three episodes have a 90% probability of the next one. Repeated occurrences can constitute a depressive cascade that are associated with high personal costs and high costs to health-care systems.
Although teens may be the most vulnerable, any depressive episode at any age warrants treatment to lessen its severity and duration. Treatment may also reduce the probability of reoccurrence.
Reference
Svoboda, E. (2024). Preemptive measures. Scientific American, 330(1), 50-57.