Teen Depression

Felisha Wells December 15, 2010 Block 2 Grade 12 What is really going on?

Many teenagers today are suffering from depression because of the many stressors in our society. Being a teenager today is very hard because Teen depression is common in 1 out of 8 of teenagers. Depression in teenagers is seen a lot but not noticed.

When people see teenagers and they are really depressed, most people think it is just a teenager trying to get attention, being lazy, and just sick. Most of the time it goes on unnoticed. When it continues to go on unnoticed it starts to turn into teenagers committing suicide.

“Lindsay feels tired all the time but has difficulty falling asleep. She's gained weight too. When her mother asks her what's wrong, Lindsay just feels like crying. But she doesn't know why. Nothing particularly bad has happened. Yet Lindsay feels sad all the time and can't shake it.” “Lindsay may not realize it yet, but she is depressed.”(Says Teen Health) Lindsay doesn’t know why she is depressed; isn’t that kind of impossible? Being depressed and not knowing why? No it’ not, most teens see the after effect of being depressed but don’t see the reason sometimes. The reason of being depressed range from not getting good grades to losing a loved one to hormones. In some cases being depressed is a trait that is pasted on in the family. But when it comes to people being depressed,

they don’t always know the specific reason for it. Sometimes it is something that happened long ago and they don’t remember it, but their subconscious does. Sometimes it is your surroundings like the economy, the future, and us being the next generation to take control of the world.

“2010, the year and the time of technology”, (Says the Los Angles Times). You would think that technology being here would be a wonderful thing. To a certain extent it is, but there is also a bad outcome to this. Basically technology is taking away jobs.

Without a job, there isn’t much you can do. You have to have a job and money in order to do anything or you will be homeless. It has gotten harder and harder to get a job during these times, everything is so expensive. In order for you to get a job you need a good education. And being that the cost of school, work, houses, and other necessities for living has risen, that can make anyone depressed. So why would teenagers be depressed about it? Us, being the next generation we have to inherit the roles of our parents and authority figures.

Being bullied online is one of the main reasons for depression. Nowadays everyone has a Facebook or Aim. With access to those website you can do anything from hacking, to plotting a robbery, shopping online, to bulling. This generation wants things their way. I you don’t jump when they say jump, they you aren’t good enough. So they torment you and say very mean hurtful things. A study shows that women and girls are more depressed than boys.

“Teenage girls encounter more "stressors" in life, especially in their interpersonal relationships, than boys -- and they react more strongly to those pressures,

accounting in part for their higher levels of depression, the study suggests.”

(Stated by Wed Md) "Girls are getting a double hit," (says Benjamin L. Hankin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, one of the study's researchers). But that does not exclude boys from being bullied at all. Boys are still bullied very often. With men it is more of a want of control. Today most people want one thing, control.

“Entertainment Tonight recently reported that TV and music star Marie Osmond’s 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, committed suicide last Friday in Los Angeles. In his suicide note, he described a life-long battle with depression, the reason for his suicide.

Osmond said Michael became depressed after she and her ex-husband, Brian Blosil, separated, and that he entered rehab in November 2007.” ( Entertainment Tonight) Suicide comes into the story when teenagers think there is nowhere else to go. They cannot take it anymore.

Peer pressure can be a huge reason for teenagers being depressed. The need to fit in is also a very big thing that contributes to teen depression. If you do not have the latest technology, clothes, hairstyles, and up to date accessories, then you are sometimes treated like an outcast.

Being abused and other family ordeals contributes a lot to how you act and how you treat other people. You either turn around and do want your parents did to you, to other people, run away, tell the authority and get put into foster care, or you are too afraid to tell anyone and you keep it bottled inside and become depressed.

In conclusion I know that teens stressed out because the many stressors of today.

But whether it be because the economy, your living situation to school, they are greatly depressed. There are people out there who can help them thought. You can talk to people about how you feel and why, and if you do not know why, fixing the problem is all that matters.

Work Cited

Borchard, Therese. J “World of Psychology”, Why are so many teens depressed b 1992-2010 Psych Central. Site last updated: 15 Dec 2010 http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/03/04/why-are-so-many-teensdepressed/.

December 14, 2010 Doheny, Kathleen .“Teen Girls Have Tougher Time Than Boys Girls Encounter More Stressors and Respond More Strongly to Them, Becoming More Depressed”, Strongly to Them, Becoming More Depressed WebMD Health News .20052010 WebMD http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070207/teen-girls-have-tougher-timethan-boys.

December 14, 2010 Mule, Christine .M “Why Women Are More Susceptible to Depression: An Explanation for Gender Differences”. http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/mule.html.

Rochester Institute of Technology Last modified March 2004 December 14, 2010 Nemours. “Teen Health”. Depression. http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/depression.

1995-2010 The Nemours Foundation December 14, 2010 “Teen Depression” Mayo Clinic.com 2010-08-03 1998-2010 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo-127583/Teen-depression? q=teen+depression&qpvt=teenage+depression December 14, 2010 Doheny, Kathleen .“Teen Girls Have Tougher Time Than Boys Girls Encounter More Stressors and Respond More Strongly to Them, Becoming More Depressed”, Strongly to Them, Becoming More Depressed WebMD Health News .20052010 WebMD http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070207/teen-girls-have-tougher-timethan-boys December 14, 2010