Teenage Depression and Suicidal Behavior

Over the past few years’ teenage depression has drastically increased due to multiple factors such as peer pressure and bullying. According to Linda Lamb’s article Young People Can Suffer From Depression, Too, the suicide rate among teenagers [today] is about 10 per 100,000.

A handout from the Health and Human Services Department and National Institute of Mental Health stated, "In the last 25 years, the rate of suicide among teenagers and young adults has increased dramatically.” The awareness of teenager depression has increased and the public are taking steps to reduce it, however schools and parents can do more to prevent it, such as a day of awareness or even so much as considering the possibility that a teen is depressed.

Teenage depression doesn’t just affect one’s personal life but academic as well. It can affect relationships with close friends and family. Linda Lamb’s article explains, "Girls are more likely to attempt suicide, but boys are more likely to ‘complete’ suicide.” Depression and suicidal behavior can differ dramatically between genders. Masculinity has become a fashion over recent years and the desire to be accepted by ‘cool kids’ has increased as well. So depressed males will not seek the help they need in the fear of being isolated or shunned by fellow classmates. Teenage girls, on the other hand, show more self-doubt than males but are more likely to reach out to close friends.

So it’s up to the people in their lives to see problems and confront them. So how can one recognize depression or suicidal behavior? There may be a gender shift in how teenagers reach out, however the symptoms remain generally the same. Depressed teens stop doing the things they used to love to do like music and sports, they get irritated easily at the simplest things, and their sleep habits changed to too little or too much sleep (Martin, Patti).

In Patti Martin’s article, Teenage Blues Might Be More, he clarifies that some things said about teen depression aren’t necessarily true. "MYTH: Telling an adult that a friend might be depressed is betraying a trust. If someone wants help, he or she will get it or ask for it. FACT: Depression, which saps energy and self-esteem, interferes with a person’s ability or wish to get help. It is an act of true friendship to share your concerns with an adult who can help. No matter what you 'promised' to keep secret, your friend’s life is more important than a promise.” So if you know someone that shows depression symptoms, you’re doing them a favor by telling an adult to get them help.

Linda Lamb’s article stated that certain situations can cause depression such as, 'stress or division in the family, major problems in school, a breakup with a girlfriend or boyfriend, and dealing with overlapping conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or substance abuse.' Along with these events, teenagers go through 'body changes, changes in thoughts, and changes in feelings. Strong feelings of stress…in new ways influence a teenager’s problem solving and decision making abilities' (OSUMC).

A lot of people don’t understand why teenage depression is more serious than adult depression. According to Newsweek, "Depressed teenagers are more reactive to the environment than depressed adults. In addition, they act irritable.” With this, parents usually should not deal with their kid’s depression alone. Most of the time, the teenager will blame the parents if not get irritated with them. If a parent is trying to deal with a teenager with possible depression, they should call a psychologist and get help. It’s important that parents are involved in their kid’s life, not just during teenage hood but also before. When a kid becomes a teenager, it’s important to stick close to them emotionally and talk about how things are going and what they want to do with their lives. Moral support and encouragement does a lot more for a teenager than parent’s think. A simple “I know you can do it” goes a long way in the mind of a teenager.

However, parents need to take extra steps because teenage depression can just come on suddenly even if things are well at home, a teenager can still have problems at school, dealing with a breakup with a girlfriend or boyfriend. Depression can appear for no reason due to genetics. The Ohio State University Medical Center said, "Keep medications and firearms away from children…Become informed." Parents who know what is going on in their kid’s life and are well informed on depression and suicidal behavior and get their kid help sooner rather than later and save their kid’s life.

Parents have a hard time dealing with their teenager but the schools have school psychologists and guidance counselors that are there for such things. Right now the system the school has goes as follows: A teacher sees a student acting differently or abnormally than usual for more than one class, if the student is showing signs of extreme sadness or loss of interest, the teacher might wave a ‘red flag’ which means they’ll get guidance counselor involved. The student will be called down and they talk about what’s going on. If the case involves the student self harming or thinking such thoughts, then the school psychologist will get involved. The school psychologist is the only one who can determine if the student is safe to the people around them or even themselves. If the psychologist doesn’t think they are safe, the student will need to go to a hospital and get a letter written from a professional saying they’re ok for school before they’re allowed to return. In the mist of al this, the guidance counselor or psychologist will call the parents and let them know what’s going on and usually recommend a therapist.

That’s the process that most schools take, but there are more that school’s can do to help reduce teenage depression. In school, we learn academics such as math and English. But are there classes that help a student deal with unexpected life troubles? Not really. Schools teach how to handle college and some jobs they could get, but it’s equally important that teenagers know, through a critical part of their life, that they can handle what comes their way and they have people to turn to when things seem overwhelming.

Teenage depression is when a teenager believes they’re stuck in a corner and can’t do anything about it. They can’t talk to anyone because they’re scared that they’ll be labeled or their reputation will be hurt. Peer pressure is a big part of today’s young society. Teenagers want to be accepted and many will pretend to be someone they’re not to just do that. In some situations, they’ll do drugs and alcohol because a friend or someone they want approval of wants them to try it. It can cause teenagers to make undesirable choices such as involve themselves in criminal activity, skip school, Peer pressure goes beyond just what their friends think of them and the drugs and alcohol. Sometimes pressure goes back to the teenager’s overwhelming sense that they have to succeed.

Teenage depression has increased over the last 40 years due to the new ways of communication. Teenagers have to deal with verbal bullying and cyber bullying as well. Teenagers are more caring about their self -appearance and what people think of them. Us, as a society, are more aware of teenage depression and how serious it is but there are more steps we can take to save a life. A parent can show more support and be more aware of this growing problem so they know how to handle it if the situation occurs and schools can teach more than just how to simplify a fraction and more of how to handle stressful situations or even have a day of awareness on teenage depression.