Teen Depression
Teenage Depression
Depression is an illness that affects many people all over the world. Although this illness afflicts people of all ages, teenagers are especially impacted by depression and experience thoughts of suicide. In the novel The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, a 19 year old girl, Esther Greenwood, suffers from depression. The author, Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide after writing The Bell Jar, based her main characters depression off of her real life experiences. This book exemplifies the struggles that teenagers experience while depressed, and also vividly describes what causes teenage depression. Even though The Bell Jar is a fiction novel, it is a realistic representation of depression in teenagers since Plath experienced very similar events in her own life. Other than novels, there are many studies that have proven how adolescent depression is increasing due to traumatic moments in a teenager’s life.
Teenagers experience an exceptional amount of stress throughout this time in their lives. Between struggling with schoolwork to achieve good grades, trying to fit in with their peers, and attempting to conform to the expectations of society, teenagers undergo an extensive amount of pressure. Dr. Kirk Astroth, a Professor from the University of Arizona wrote an article about people who are at risk of depression. In Astroth’s article, “Are Youth at Risk,” he states that an estimated 25% of all kids from the ages of 10-17 are considered at high risk to develop depression (Astroth). Teenagers in today’s society are more likely to develop depression due to the messages being sent from the advertisements and entertainment which surrounds them. Furthermore, today there are more divorces and broken households, which negatively affects the children who are apart of these families, and plays a toll on their minds. In the same article, Astroth writes, “The pathological treatment of youth is also manifest in the mental health area. Since 1980, teen
Depression is an illness that affects many people all over the world. Although this illness afflicts people of all ages, teenagers are especially impacted by depression and experience thoughts of suicide. In the novel The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, a 19 year old girl, Esther Greenwood, suffers from depression. The author, Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide after writing The Bell Jar, based her main characters depression off of her real life experiences. This book exemplifies the struggles that teenagers experience while depressed, and also vividly describes what causes teenage depression. Even though The Bell Jar is a fiction novel, it is a realistic representation of depression in teenagers since Plath experienced very similar events in her own life. Other than novels, there are many studies that have proven how adolescent depression is increasing due to traumatic moments in a teenager’s life.
Teenagers experience an exceptional amount of stress throughout this time in their lives. Between struggling with schoolwork to achieve good grades, trying to fit in with their peers, and attempting to conform to the expectations of society, teenagers undergo an extensive amount of pressure. Dr. Kirk Astroth, a Professor from the University of Arizona wrote an article about people who are at risk of depression. In Astroth’s article, “Are Youth at Risk,” he states that an estimated 25% of all kids from the ages of 10-17 are considered at high risk to develop depression (Astroth). Teenagers in today’s society are more likely to develop depression due to the messages being sent from the advertisements and entertainment which surrounds them. Furthermore, today there are more divorces and broken households, which negatively affects the children who are apart of these families, and plays a toll on their minds. In the same article, Astroth writes, “The pathological treatment of youth is also manifest in the mental health area. Since 1980, teen