The Causes of Depression in Young Adolescents

Teenage depression is getting more and more common. Many of young adults get into depression, as early as 13 to 15 years old. Because they hide their feelings, they are not usually diagnosed for it and that causes them to carry this depression until they are adults. This could be very frightening and life threatening to some people. Depression is a disorder or illness that involves many parts of a person's life. Depression in children is usually overlooked. Some children, when depressed, pretend to be sick and refuse to go to school. Teenagers will get into trouble at school, be in bad moods, or be very negative. Depression is a symptom of mood disorder characterized by intense feelings of loss, sadness, hopelessness, failure, and rejection. For most teenagers, depression is a cause of low self-esteem from not being popular, but for others it is from poor family relations such as not having any family support or being rejected by them, or for some its because of some medical problems or disorder.

Depression can be expressed through many symptoms. A common symptom is a empty view of life. Life seems meaningless, and nothing good will ever happen. Another symptom is constant crying for no particular reason. When teenager is depressed they don't feel like doing a lot of the things that they used to like. Such as music, sports, being with friends, and going out. They want to be left alone most of the time. Also, it is hard for them to make up their mind when it comes to making decisions. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors . Mood disorders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as eating disorders, lack of sleep, alcoholism, and suicide. All of which can hide depressive symptoms.

One of the biggest issues for teens is fitting in. They want to be accepted and there is a fear of being alone and not being wanted. Popularity is a huge social factor for any teen, especially in High School. Everyone wants to be part of the "in crowd" and if you cannot be a part of them, you want to dress like them or act like them. Pressures like this do tend to be worse for girls (Saluja). Girls feel the need to please others and seek approval while boys learn that it is ok to be themselves and do their own thing. Boys tend to be able to deal better with these social issues then girls do. They are able to put events behind them, and not depend upon others for reassuring them of their self worth. Girls still measure self-esteem by popularity and their ability to please boys, not by their grades and their prospects for living self sufficiently. Girls tend to be more open and talk about their feelings and emotions. When dealing with friendships or matters of the heart, girls are more socially responsive than boys are and seem to dwell more on relationships. It has been found that, "Teenage girls report being depressed not only more frequently than boys, but for longer periods of time. Given