Johnson Clinical Depression Summary

Adolescent Depression: Why there are more female adolescents diagnosed with clinical depression?
The Rev. Bruce E. Johnson
Liberty University Online

Author Notes Rev. Johnson is an institutional chaplain serving under the endorsement of The Vineyard USA. He received his Masters in Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2004. Rev. Johnson also has training in Rural Pastoral Care, Pastoral Crisis Intervention, and in Human Empowerment and Leadership Principles (H.E.L.P.). For nine years, he served as a United Methodist Local Pastor in both the West Ohio and Western North Carolina Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church. More recently, Rev. Johnson served as a Chaplain Resident for the Johnson City
Clinton and Ohlschlager (2002) shares these startling facts.
One in ten students have some types of learning problems.
Students from kindergarten through college experience performance anxiety, stress, cultural conflicts, sexual harassment, and other problems that lead to negative, peer-accepted coping skills.
In the United States, 2.5% of children and 8.3% of adolescents suffer from depression…. More than 7% of depressed adolescents later commit suicide as young adults.
Although Clinton continues, those facts alone lay the foundation which show that more research and greater care needs to be provided to adolescents. With that said, research provided by Feldman defines the issue deeper. Feldman states that more than a quarter of adolescents share with others that they suffer from periods of hopelessness and sadness. Of this group, Feldman (2011) shares that a small handful suffer from major depression (See Table 1): Major depression being “a full-blown psychological disorder in which depression is severe and lingers for long periods” . Typically, these adolescents will be in longer term treatment programs and follow-up after being
As much as this appears to be true with adults; it appears to be equally, if not more greatly true with adolescent females. It is during this period of development that females are seeking autonomy. They are beginning to choose their own friends, deciding on their own clothing, beginning to work on their own financial base, and starting to decide what direction they may wish to follow in the future. The adolescent female is often struggling with separating from family while also being a part of the same family unit. As Feldman (2011) describes it, this period is a time when “adolescents increasingly seek autonomy, independence and a sense of control over their lives”. It may be picking out that first apartment away from home. It may be purchasing that first car or landing that first job. It may be picking that first boyfriend or going to that first party without having to ask permission from a parent. What may simply seem a chance to make a choice or decision: To the adolescent female this may be one more stressor to add to her life as she struggles with personal identity and self-worth. Dixon (2009) points out that “as early as age 11, young adolescents begin forming their self-concept and must cope with increasing expectations from parents, friends, school, and society”. Dixon (2009) also shares research from Burt, Stein, and others. Their research concludes “that from early adolescence through adulthood