In adolescents, common symptoms include sadness, sleep disturbances, appetite changes, poor self-esteem, delusions or hallucinations and a lack of energy. If left untreated, an episode of major depression usually lasts 8 or 9 months. Because Choate students are so involved in sports and athletic activities, many health concerns revolve around sports related injuries. Common injuries include sprains, the stretching of the ligaments of a joint often with tearing of tissues. Sprains occur most frequently at the ankle, knee and wrist and cause pain, swelling and difficulty in moving, but are not bone injuries.
Back sprains are frequent and are the most serious.
A bruise is an injury involving the rupture of a small blood vessel and discolorations without breaking the skin. The blue or purple mark usually fades to yellow and the blood is absorbed. A bruise that appears for no apparent reason and stays for more than a week could indicate a blood disorder. A fracture is the breaking of a bone and dislocations of a bone from its joint. Most fractures are simple, however, if the skin is pierced by the bone the fracture is referred to as compound.