Depression

“More than 80% of teenagers suffer depression before the age of 20” (Teen Depression).

Depression is an emotional problem where people feel lonely and helpless. People can become depressed at any age, but the average type depression occurs is between the ages of 13-19. Depression can lead to worse things if untouched. Depression can lead to suicide, drug or alcohol abuse and even addictions. There are many signs and symptoms of depression.

Stress, death, and peer pressure are just some of the causes that lead to depression. Everyone has had that one class that is hard and all they want to do is pass. From it being an advanced class or an honors class, people want to push themselves to do better. As it states in the article, causes of teen depression, “Receiving bad grades puts tremendous pressure on the youth and makes them very stressful” (Causes of Teen Depression). Depression happens later in a teen’s life because of college and senior year. Senior year is about applying to colleges and doing the best they can to pass and graduate.

This change puts a big amount of stress on a person and leads them to feel isolated and alone. “Senior year students just want to party and go to football games, so a child who is in harder, more advanced classes might start feeling left out and alone” (Depression). Parents can also put pressure on their kids about grades. Parents want their children to be everything they can be and if that means having all honor classes and getting an A in the class, then that’s what parents want. The article 10 negative causes of Depression states “Parents put some much stress on their children to do well in school. They want their child to excel and do everything to their highest potential” (10 Negative Causes).

Parents want their children to have a better life then what they had. They push them to work harder and join more clubs to get into college. Furthermore, people die every day. This is one of the biggest causes of depression. “Missing the deceased so much can sometimes cause feelings of anger, being unreasonably upset and excessively lonely” (Teen Depression: Causes).

The teen years are the hardest years in a lifetime. This is the time when you start to change, and realize that the real world is out there and soon they are going to be in it. A lot of teenagers need people to talk to; they need someone to trust and to go to for help. If a teen loses one of their parents they feel alone. They feel like they don’t know how to make it through the day without them there.

“Without a parent, some teens cannot function; their whole life their parent was with them and now they are gone forever” (Reasons for Teen Depression). Parents have been there through every aspect of their life and to wake up one day and see that they aren’t there and won’t be anymore, can really take a toll on some people’s emotions. Teens looked at that person as someone who they can fully trust and come to with anything, not having them there anymore makes them feel alone and helpless. “Teenagers think since their parent died they don’t know how to live their life and go on without them” (Causes of Teen Depression). Teenage girls are more likely to be effective if their mother dies and teenage boys are more likely to be effective if their father dies.

Death causes teens to feel alone and they become depressed and think about suicide. “Death of a mom or dad is the big reason why many teens get put into hospitals or prescribed medication because of the high chance of becoming depressed or suicidal”(Reasons for Teen Depression). This is why when people die and teenagers are effective, many people watch that person closely for a few months. The teenager might stay home from school or the other family members might think of ways to overcome the horrible situation. Also, teenage girls are more likely to have depression.

Being a teenage girl means adjusting to a lot of major changes. Changes include, adjusting to new things, new school, and many new different people; also starting to develop feelings and friendships with boys. In high school boys change too, but not dramatically like girls. “In high school, girls are supposed to look and act a certain way, especially with a boy” (Depression: Girls). People in high school think if a girl and a boy are in a relationship they must have sex, even if they haven’t been going out for a long time.

Many boys think like that also, they think high school is about getting with as many girls as possible. Girls don’t think that way. Some girls want a real relationship and someone to love them. “Teenage girls are the most likely to become depressed due to lack of sexual activity with boys” (Reasons for Teen Depression). If a girl gets with a boy she is now known as a whore, if she doesn’t get with a boy she is now known as a prude girl.

In high school many girls can feel alone and like they aren’t wanted. Another cause of depression for girls is the way they look. In society models are bone skinny and beautiful. “Girls look into fashion and modeling and the new trends, all the world throws out there is good looks and a perfect body” (Girls and Depression). Girls try and be a size 0 with flawless skin. No one is perfect and no one looks the same.

Girls think that if they don’t look like the pretty models, then they should try and be skinny. This is how they become anorexic or bulimic. Depression is a major effect from the way society thinks a girl should look and act. As a result, many things in life cause depression. This article states that “Peer Pressure, environment, society and family life” (Teen Depression). Causes from school and getting good grades also cause teens to feel lonely and depressed.

Life in high school can be very stressful, especially as a high school senior. This article about teen depression describes how “High school seniors have to stress of college and planning the rest of their life, depression is highly common in this stage of life” (Girls and depression). As an effect of peer pressure and society, many teenagers develop depression. They become isolated from their friends and want to hurt themselves. They also become very sad and moody. Depression is caused by many things and people should watch for signs of depression in teenagers.

In conclusion, stress, death and peer pressure are just some of the causes of depression. There are many things people can learn about this topic. They can learn about the signs and symptoms of depression. Another thing they may learn is how to deal with a child who had depression, or a friend or a family member. Depression can really hit a family hard, especially if there are other children in the family. Families need support and they can learn how to receive help and find out for their child.

People can change their actions by looking deeper into a child that looks unhappy. They can look deeper into family members and close friends and try to help them. They can make them happy again.