The changes that people go through during puberty could definitely aid in the development of depression, and it is true that many teenagers are affected by depression, but it's not necessarily true that depression is an indispensable "part of puberty." Many teens are perfectly happy and content, so it really depends on the individual. Moreover, depression is a mental illness that concerns people of all ages. Even as adults, there are aspects of life that can bring depression. Therefore, I think it's important we don't dismiss it as "part of a phase in life"—this kind of attitude is counter-productive to assisting people that need help. We should rather educate the public about the gravity of this mental illness so that those suffering from depression will get the help they need with the sympathy of the public.

I feel that the "depression period" is essential to a child's mental growth and it better prepares the teenager to enter society as a mature adult when they grow up. Don't get me wrong here. I am not saying depression is normal; I just think that teenagers need to know how to fight those kinds of negative feelings and they can't learn the method unless they face it. We have to admit that a teenager usually has fewer problems to worry about compared to their parents. Teenagers don't have to worry about bills, rents or getting fired. Teenagers generally feel depressed because they discovered that their life isn't going the way they want and it is a difficult time to get through. Accumulated stress is normal, and teenagers need to know how to solve them. However, it becomes a problem when it starts interfering with their daily life.

I think every teenager at one point or another goes through a self-perceived "depression." It may not be clinical, but, at least to the person inflicted, it feels very real. There are multiple cases of such depression that makes teenage depression such a complex issue, as the conflicting expert opinions reveal. For instance, teenagers, going through hormonal swings, often feel an exaggerated sense of emotion for what later feels to be something silly (ie ending your first relationship). For another, a teenager may be in actual depression due to a judgmental environment or low feeling of self-worth. So there is really no one way to answer what teenage depression is, and I think there never will be a research study able to conclusively decide on such a complex question.

It's fair to assume that teen depression might be a result of puberty and raging hormones in an adolescent body, but it's also easily attributed to new environments and pressure from peers - the teenage years are often where one might be exposed to the career world, along with thinking about college, grades, relationships, adulthood, and prevalent issues in the world today (such as public health!) All that radical change isn't supposed to come in just the span of four or five years. I know this isn't really part of the question asked, but regardless of whether it's teen depression or not, we should still be willing to help people who struggle with self-worth, body image, etc. We can't brush off those issues just because there's a teenager being angsty, edgy, or expressing themselves through dark humor. Depression is depression, and it should be treated as such.