During our group discussion with our tutor we discussed the topic of depression amongst youths. We had a reason to believe that Cissie Barnes, the young lady in the painting, could perhaps be suffering from depression; her expression, form and just the general tone of the painting led us to this conclusion. Therefore I have decided to research the topic of depression amongst youths to gain a further understanding and to find more inspiration for our project.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information about depression that directly links to youths in the time period in which the painting was produced. No teenage depression incidents were documented during the 1920s as there wasn’t any support system in place for young people. However, I have managed to find plenty of information about depression in the modern day that can easily be applied to our chosen painting.
‘You might feel irritable, sad and stressed most of the time. Or you might get more angry than usual and feel restless, unable to relax or stop thinking about what is on your mind. Other feelings that you might experience include feeling guilty, worthless, frustrated, unhappy, indecisive, disappointed and miserable.’
Cissie Barnes appears to be ‘restless and unable to sleep’ in the painting.
‘Grief and depression are quite different but they can appear similar as they can both lead to feelings of intense sadness, insomnia, poor appetite and weight loss.’
This relates back to what we discussed in a previous meeting (was mentioned in a meeting before but on here it’s mentioned in the idea development derived from the painting) in that maybe the title ‘morning’ could actually mean ‘mourning’ as in grieving over the death of a loved one.
Cissie Barnes would perhaps have been under the category of family turmoil as her mother passes away not long after she was born. So she would have been raised by only her father.
These are common causes of depression amongst youths:
- Social Rejection
- Family Turmoil
- Failing Exams
(Some more common causes of depression amongst youths can also be found in a previous post on this blog as well)
I also found that another disorder that a lot of youths suffer from is dissociation disorder.
‘Dissociation is one way the mind copes with too much stress, such as during a traumatic event. The word dissociation can be used in different ways but it usually describes an experience where you feel disconnected in some way from the world around you or from yourself.’