Forever Young and Depressed

“Our Generation has had no Great war, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives.” - Chuck Palahniuk, freelance journalist and author of Fight Club.

 

Here are some scary statistics: a teenager commits suicide every 100 minutes.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death in youth ages 15-24 and the sixth leading cause for children ages 5-14. Over 19% of high school students have seriously thought about committing suicide, 14.5% have actually made plans to commit suicide, while 1 in 12 teens have attempted suicide. Almost a million teens have thought of suicide during an episode of depression. Approximately 20% of teens experience depression before reaching adulthood. Among them, only 30% are treated, leaving 70% to deal with the illness on their own.

 

Most people, including teens, have days where they are not themselves; they feel down without a reason. For people suffering from depression, these feelings can last for years. Some believe that when you are depressed you can't be happy, smile, or laugh, that you can't have good days. This is not true. With depression there tends to be more bad days than good days. Depression is not anyone’s fault, it is caused by the chemicals in their brain. A person with depression has a chemical imbalance. Depression can often lead to other mental illnesses such as anxiety, dysthymia, and antisocial behavior. 15% of teens with depression will develop bipolar disorder later in their life. If depression goes untreated it will only fester and worsen.

 

But why is this current high school and college generation so depressed?

 

Experts point to a myriad of possible causes. One of the frontrunners is the modern lifestyle. Technology is king nowadays. Between smart phones, the boom of internet and social media, video games, and more TV channels than one can count, today's youth are pulled away and isolated from certain societal influences and experiences needed to develop and cope that past generations were exposed to. With the abundance of communication via technology, the amount of cyber bullying occurring has exploded in recent years, which is just another factor to depression and suicide. 16% of high school students say they have been cyberbullied in some form of email, instant messaging, social media sites, or texting. 20% said they had been bullied at school. "What happens with an increase in communication among students is that there's more pressure.” Dr. Hector Adames, a neuropsychologist, said. “[Then] there's more bullying," Victims of bullying are 2-9 times more like to consider suicide. On average there are 160,000 students every day who stay home from school to avoid being bullied.

 

The media is constantly berating youth with mixed messages like: you have to look and act a certain way to be beautiful and therefore liked and accepted, but nobody will like you if you don't accept and love yourself the way you are. The media tells you to feel good and happy, but lately on social media sites the current cool fad has been mental illnesses like depression and anxiety disorders because it makes you "unique".

 

Some people are predisposed to mental illnesses due family history, chronic diseases and physical conditions, and family/home problems like divorce. Females are also twice as likely to become depressed as males; the media’s affect and target on young females is the presumed leading cause for the gap in depression between the sexes. However, males are less likely to seek help, society norms and ideals of gender and masculinity are named to be the main reason why.

 

Stress is a major factor as well. Today, there are five to eight times more students in high school and college who have depression and/or anxiety issues than in the Great Depression era. Since the 1960's suicide rates have almost tripled.

Unrealistic expectations from all aspects of life have youth feeling more stressed, hopeless, and helpless.
"Teens think they are invincible ... when they feel psychological pain, they are more apt to feel overwhelmed by helplessness and [believe they] have no control..." said Tony Jurich, a professor at Kansas State University.
Jurich also believes with the amount of technology running people's daily lives today there is a divide between the family dynamic of years past. Not every child is taught or experiences the skills they need for coping with stressful situations.

Environmental toxins and current diets of such highly processed food may be small contributions as well.

 

With the help of adults and other teens alike, there is hope. Wake up, open your eyes, and know the signs of depression:

 

• low self-esteem
• sadness and/or hopelessness
• sluggish/drowsy
• spending more time alone, withdrawing from friends and family
• sleeping more, even when not tired
• physical ailments such as aches, pains, and headaches
• substance abuse
• new or worsening problems in school or at work
• lack of motivation
• decreases in loved activities/interests
• increased interest or talks about death/suicide
• not caring about appearance or dramatic changes in appearance
• changes in eating/sleeping patterns
• forgetfulness
• running away from home

 

While it is important to know the signs of depression, it doesn’t matter if anyone doesn’t do anything about it. Talk to them, seek out help.

 

80% of depressed teens can be successfully treated if they receive the right help and treatment. Treatment can include medication, therapy, mediation, or care from medical providers. Depression will usually respond to treatment, however very deep depression may persist and can have recurring episodes throughout a patient’s lifetime.

 

“There's nothing, repeat, nothing to be ashamed of when you're going through a depression. If you get help, the chances of your liking it are really good. But, you have to get yourself onto a safe path.” – Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes news anchor.