Matt’s Changes

Matt’s a pretty typical 16-year-old. He’s a junior in high school. He does OK at school. He played football during his freshman and sophomore years, but got cut this year. His friends are nice guys who enjoy going to games and hanging out together.

Life has been pretty good for Matt until the last few months. He just feels crummy. Nothing really hurts, but he’s just not interested in doing any of the things he used to like.

Everything takes too much effort. All he really does is lie around in his room and listen to music. He just can’t focus on his schoolwork and his grades are dropping fast. Matt’s confused and feels pretty hopeless.

Semester grades are mailed home - all Ds and Fs. Matt’s parents are at the end of their rope. They talk with some of Matt’s teachers and find that he’s sleeping in classes, doing none of the work, and not participating in groups. Talking to Matt isn’t helping. They don’t know what to do.

Tara, Matt’s younger sister, is the one who begins to put the pieces together. She sees what’s happening at school, with his friends and at home.

She’s concerned for Matt and finally goes to her mom to say that she thinks Matt’s depressed. Tara has learned about this in her freshman health class.

Matt’s mom and dad begin to understand and together they talk to Matt’s school counselor. The counselor recommends that Matt be evaluated at the Day Hospital Program at Salem Hospital. Inside, Matt’s relieved that someone understands and that help is coming.
Matt begins his evaluation at the Outpatient Child Psychiatry Office.

He and his family meet with a child psychiatrist and family therapist. It feels weird to be doing this with his family, but he’s willing to do anything if it makes him feel better. They decide that Matt will enter the Day Hospital Program. In this 10-day treatment program he’ll come 5 – 6 hours each day, five days a week.

He begins the program with a full diagnostic exam. Matt’s depression is more serious than his family had thought. Matt expresses some of his real feelings and the fact that he’s been considering suicide. He’s placed on medication that the professionals continue to monitor to ensure that he has the most effective help.

He continues treatment with a psychosocial evaluation. A treatment plan is developed by a multi-disciplinary team that includes a child psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, family therapist, recreational therapist, art therapist, psychotherapist and some interns.

Matt makes good progress. His family also participates so they’ll be better able to understand Matt and help him. After 10 days, Matt returns to school. He isn’t finished with his treatment, which will go on for sometime, but he does feel lots better about himself and is ready to be more like his regular self.

Matt’s friends are happy to see him again. Matt feels a little awkward talking about what he had done, but he does share with his two best friends. They both are so happy to have their friend back among the living, that they decide the treatment program must be a pretty good thing.

As they talk, they realize that some of their other friends might have problems with depression too. The website for the program has some good information. Matt recommends it to his friends.

Matt now realizes that depression is a pretty common problem in teens. He sees symptoms in lots of kids at school, especially those kids who are like he was…. angry, withdrawn, doing nothing in class. He thinks it’s pretty cool that his sister learned about depression in her health class.

He’s thankful that his parents were there to take the first steps and get him into the Day Program. Getting help as a whole family made Matt feel that his family really does love him.

Matt has recovered, but he knows that he may have times in the future where he’ll need some help. Now he knows where to get it.

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