Teenage Depression Depression in Teenagers, August 2000 I. Clinical depression is a serious illness that can affect anybody, including teenagers. It can affect your thoughts, feelings, behavior, and overall health. A recent child psychologist quoted; 'It (depressions) not a fleeting sadness but a pervasive and relentless sense of despair. A lack of interest in life accompanied by weight loss, loss of appetite, feelings of uselessness, and sleep disturbance are some of the more common symptoms. People with depression can't just 'snap out of it'.
There can be an array of causes- it can be due to stresses in the home or at work, or it can just come out of the blue. Sometimes family history can be a major factor.' We chose this topic because this case is relevant to the cognitive process in teenagers. II. Depression can be expressed through many symptoms. A common symptom is a pessimistic view of life. Life seems meaningless, and nothing good will ever happen.
Another symptom is constant crying for no particular reason. When your depressed you don't feel like doing a lot of the things you used to like. Such as music, sports, being with friends, and going out. You want to be left alone most of the time. Also, it is hard for you to make up your mind when it comes to making decisions. III.
Numerous studies have showed that 2. 5 percent of children and up to 8 percent of teens suffer from depression. In another study, 9 to 17 year old were tested. The results were; 6 percent of them suffer from six month depression, while 5 percent have major depression. Through all ages, depression affects 1 in five people. Every year, depression affects over 19 million Americans.
7 percent of all women suffer while 4 percent of all men suffer. IV. Having depression doesn't mean the person is weak, or a failure, or isn't really trying. It means they need treatment. Most people with depression can be helped with counseling, provided by a professional psychologist, and some are helped with medicine. Counseling, or psychotherapy, means talking about feelings with a trained psychologist who can help you change relationships, thoughts, or behaviors that are causing the depression.
Medicine is also used to treat depression that is severe or disabling. Prozac is a type of antidepressant medication. V. This topic is extremely relevant to the field of psychology. Not only can depression affect your physical appearance, but it can also affect your mental well being. Depressed teenagers will become less confident, and their self esteem will diminish.
This can only have negative repercussions. If they are emotionally scared as teenagers, they can grow up to be unstable adults. Depression can also coincide with mental illnesses, which can be treated. Most cases of depression can be treated with the proper medication. VI. Depression is applicable to any person.
It can affect anybody. Anyone has potential to be affect by depression. This could be applicable to my life because anybody in my family or possibly even me could be diagnosed with depression. In short, depression can affect anyone and everyone.