Depression In Adolescence

Developing depressive disorders in adolescence is common all around the world, but often goes unrecognized. It is widely accepted in America that teens in poverty are at a higher risk than any other members of the social stratum for being distressed; and are ultimately prone to increased psychological destruction compared to their social peers. Nationwide research has continually demonstrated that low income is a prominent stimulant of stress as well as emotional, psychological, and behavioral crises. Depression leads to the deteriorating of life quality, and impairs occupational as well as societal functioning. The burdens which depressive disorders are associated with is elevated among low and middle income families. These specific social
According to the University of North Carolina’s mental health nurse Linda S. Beeber, depression is a conventional term used to express a “psychological disorder, transient feelings, and a health problem characterized by a group of related symptoms.” This disease can be caused by an imbalance of the dopamine hormone in the brain, passed down to children biologically, or it can be followed by external experiences leading into depression; which is a major cause of suicide and suicidal tendencies. The National Center for Health Statistics reports the annual number of deaths resulting from suicide being approximately the same number as deaths caused by the transmission and effects of AIDS. While people of all ages and geographic regions are susceptible to acquiring this disorder, teenagers are the most common group to be documented and affected by the disease. Some of this can be contributed to the pressures and changes brought about with adolescence and puberty during this time in a person’s life, but conditions become gradually worse when in a low income family, and in turn a low socioeconomic class; for the lack of access to the variety of existing resources for depression and limited admittance into educational institutes – among other inequalities; which ultimately lead to personal lowering of future ambition and
As stated in Joan Asarnow’s Treatments for adolescent depression: Theory and Practice, 15% to 20% of the youth’s population is estimated to experience any given form of a depressive disorder by the age of 18. Young adults who experience depression commonly struggle with the disorder throughout their lives; and this can possibly lead to the abuse of drugs and alcohol, as well as suicidal manners from pubescent years, into adulthood stages. Paralleling Lorant’s aforementioned 7-year Longitudinal Population Study, a study by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health demonstrated similar results, while emphasizing more on the higher levels of child mental health effects and depression associated with a low household income, which is typically contributed by parental occupation and wages. A study reviewed by both Harvard Medical School and the University of Michigan explained an additional factor of teenage depression being the academic achievements of their parents. Higher subjective status is linked with diminished risks of behavior disorders among adolescents, but not among those whose parents participated in the lowest level of education. As reported by R. Jay Turner and Blair Wheaton in the journal The Epidemiology of Social Stress, not attaining a proper or full time education has various reasons, the leading cause is