Teen blues should be taken seriously, says Professor George Patton of Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne

PARENTS should take the teenage blues seriously, says a scientist who has tracked the mental health of almost 2000 adolescents for 14 years.

Parents should take the teenage blues seriously says Professor George Patton of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne.

PARENTS should take the teenage blues seriously, says a scientist who has tracked the mental health of almost 2000 adolescents for 14 years.

About half of boys and two-thirds of girls who experience mental health problems in adolescence continue to have issues in their 20s, he says.

However, those who have a single episode that lasts six months or less are unlikely to have problems later in life.

"There is no doubt that adolescence is a high-risk phase for the onset of common mental disorders," says researcher Professor George Patton of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne.

Persistent unhappiness, moodiness, anxiety and a loss of interest in friends, pastimes or school work are warning signs.

"Parents should create an opportunity to talk to their children if it lasts longer than a week. The worst thing they can do is ignore it or criticise it," he said.

"Clearly, when problems persist for longer than a few months help should be sought from a GP or an organisation such as Headspace."

Prof Patton's study shows most young adults with depression and anxiety had clear-cut problems in their teenage years.

Life events, particularly the separation or divorce of parents, are a challenge for young people, says Prof Patton, whose study is published in the Lancet.

Other triggers are commonly around family conflicts, bullying, relationship difficulties, academic problems or distressing life events like illness or death.

Overall, about half the males and 70 per cent of the females in the study had a problem at some point from their teens to their mid-20s that a GP would be concerned about.

But about half the boys and a third of the girls recovered on their own within six months.

"The longer the episode continues, the more likely the teenager is to have recurring problems into their early 20s," Prof Patton says.

However, regardless of how long the episode lasts, many people appear to grow out of their problems by the time they reach their late 20s.

"The good news is that a lot of these problems stay in the teens.

"Even when they spill over into the 20s, many people have a capacity to continue to grow out of them," he says.