How Does Depression Affects Adolescence

In today’s society adolescence are often pressured into many things by the media. According to magazines they have to look a certain way, around their friends they must act a certain way, and of course family always heaves the stress on by making sure they maintain good grades, think about colleges, hold down a job, and overall be basically a superhero. With all of the stress that goes with being an adolescent, there are other situations that just add more fuel to the raging fire. However, as a society no one stops to think of the affects that all of this pressure and other events may have on an adolescent. Some of these young teenagers may travel down a deep dark path known as depression if they are not properly treated and are able to express themselves. In this paper, I will discuss what depression is, symptoms to look for, how it can affect an adolescent, treatment options, and …show more content…
When someone is suffering from depression they are basically battling themselves. Not only do they typically feel worthless, sad, and possibly angry, most will bottle up their feelings and not say a word to anyone else about it, soon these individuals can become extremely suicidal. According to Meghan Neal, approximately one in every six adolescence will seriously contemplate suicide, and one in every twelve will try to commit suicide (2012). To put that in perspective a large graduating high school class of five hundred people, statistically nearly forty of those students had attempted suicide. If someone is having severe suicidal thoughts they should be closely monitored by a hospital. Other effects of depression can lead to quitting activities, school performance dramatically sinking, sleeping excessively, becoming irritable and moody, and possibly complete isolation. Those suffering from depression generally have a difficult time talking to people about their issues, this especially happens towards adult and authority