Teens’ stress, depression is focus of school program

Talk, discussion set Wednesday at Princeton High School.

By: Jeff Milgram
   You think your life is stressful?
   Think about the lives of high school students.
   They worry about things like 9/11, wars, the sluggish economy and their parents getting divorced. On top of that, they worry about their grades, standardized testing and getting into college, not to mention their appearance and relationships.
   Things are so stressful that some school districts now schedule extra nurses at SAT-testing sites because so many students are getting sick in the hallways, said James Riordan, guidance director in the Princeton Regional School District.
   As a result, Mr. Riordan and Princeton High School Principal Sandra DeLuca, a former guidance director, came up with the idea for a program to address the issue.
   Sponsored by the guidance department, "Stress and Your Teenager: From Current Events to the College Application Process," will take place 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Princeton High School auditorium. The special evening program is designed to help parents identify stress-related problems with their teens, explore ways to relieve pressure in their children’s lives and seek professional help when necessary. It is open to the entire community.
   "We’re able to relate to some of the stress the kids go through," Mr. Riordan said Monday.
   The primary stress comes from the college admission process, especially the early admission process, when students can be accepted or rejected by the college of their choice as early as December. Then they have to apply to other schools, often being placed on wait lists, Mr. Riordan said.
   "What should be the happiest time of their lives is actually the most stressful," he said.
   A study by the National Institute of Mental Health of 9- to 15-year-olds found nearly 5 percent were suffering from major depression.
   "Pressure in general can bring on depression," Mr. Riordan said.
   It’s not unusual for young people to feel "down" or depressed from time to time, but parents need to know the difference between normal teenage moodiness and more serious problems such as depression. Teenagers don’t always understand or express their feelings very well and don’t know how to ask for help.
   Wednesday’s speaker is Dr. Arthur Reese Abright, chief of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service at Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan. After his presentation, he will throw the program open for a question-and-answer period, Mr. Riordan said.
   Dr. Abright is a recognized expert on a wide range of topics in child and adolescent psychiatry, with special focus on depression and bipolar disorder and responses of young people to stress and trauma.
   He has played a key role in ongoing efforts to organize and provide mental health services to children, adolescents and families affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center.
   Dr. Abright has been listed for the past several years in New York Magazine’s annual guide to "Best Doctors in New York City."