Why Today's Teens Are Depressed- Reasons
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that in 2017 13.3% of people aged between 12 to 17 had dealt with at least 1 major depressive episode. This number is equal to 3.2 million American teens. Furthermore, American College Health Association (ACHA) the suicide rate among young people age 15 to 24 has tripled since the 1950s. Suicide remains the second most common cause of death among college students.
These statistics are extremely horrible for anyone, especially for the parents. But, the point here is that how did we reach this severe situation? There must be something going wrong in the society which is stimulating such melancholic waves of depression among teenagers. So, let’s go into more detail about the causes of depression among teenagers.
What are the causes of the increasing depression among teenage people?
Comparing yourself with peers and friends.
When people compare themselves with their friends and peers they start looking at the things that they don’t have. For example, there are many students in the college but few of them are extremely rich and have expensive cars and houses. So, if the other students will start wondering why they don’t have enough resources to buy such expensive things then they slowly start regretting their selves and eventually, get into a depressed state of mind.
Bullying in college and schools.
Bullying is one of the greatest factors which makes teenagers think that they are incomplete and they are not like other people. Imagine a group of students coalesced to make fun of a student who has a small height, dark color, fat body, or shy nature. Such a student will not have normal mental health because he or she is repeatedly forced to believe that they miss something which makes him or her different from society.
Bullying, without any doubt, destroys the mental health of students who are being bullied. Passing on jokes on other students is healthy for the environment but constantly teasing a vulnerable student who does not have the courage to answer back is surely treated as bullying. The student who is being bullied is systematically disadvantaged at college and then at the workplace because it is planted in his mind that he lacks something.
Very often, such students start fearing communicating and interacting with others; they also face problems in making friends. This situation gradually creates a massive depressing impact on their lives.
Growing burden and competition of education.
The burden of studies on teenagers is one of the most common reasons which become the root cause of depression in teenagers. Studies and education itself is not a harmful thing however, education plays an invaluable role in shaping an individual’s personality and perspective. The problem arises when a child or a teenager is unable to cope up with the immense pressure of assignments, tests, and exams.
All students have different intelligence levels because some children slowly develop their reading, writing, Critical thinking, and problem-solving skills and some very quickly develop these skills. So, therefore when students fail in exams or are not able to perform well at school and college then they face family and society pressures which make them feel that to get success in life, it is mandatory to ace the school and college exams. However, this is entirely wrong, this gives birth to massive psychological pressure. Many students eventually lose against this psychological pressure and commit suicide.
Social Media.
Social Media is a tremendous platform and this is an extensively valuable tool for teens to enhance their knowledge. However, social media, which was made by humans to control it for their comfort, now, it is controlling the minds of all humans. Especially teenagers are more vulnerable to social media addiction. Social media is so addictive that teenagers spend their crucial time scrolling on different applications.
So, the question here is how does social media create a sense of depression among teenagers?
Social media have uncountable and unparalleled benefits but at the same time, if it is not used appropriately then, it has equally devastating disadvantages. Social media helps to connect people across the world but it also creates a social dilemma because teenagers are more focused on the virtual connection that they forget the significance of physical interaction. And, humans are social animals, communication and interaction with people specially with other family members are substantially important.
Hence, social media hampers the real-world human connections of teenagers. The human brain needs strong social connections to make the individual feel happy and excited. Therefore, social media which was made to strengthen social connection is actually destroying real-world social connections. And teenagers are the easy victims of this because in this period of life people do not have enough maturity level to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of certain actions. Ultimately, social media subtly creates a sense of isolation and loneliness among teenagers.
Communication gap with parents.
Parents are the role models for their kids and it is very crucial for teenage kids to talk with them and have healthy relations with them. Teenage is an immensely important phase of someone’s life and this particular period is full of energy and excitement. In this age, one’s perspectives and mindset are formed. Therefore, at this age kids make mistakes and there should be someone who selflessly guides the kids so that they could become emotionally and psychologically compatible with society.
However, if teenagers are not able to find good helping, encouraging, empowering, and friendly parents then they will miss one of the crucial elements of their lives. Hence, the absence of close bonding with parents might stimulate a sense of loneliness in the minds of their kids and the kids will not be able to share their experiences with someone. Eventually, it will end up in a situation where the kids will bear the emotional burden solely and they will become the prey of depression.
