Student Feed / Knowing Depression In Youth

KNOWING DEPRESSION IN YOUTH

Zainab Hafeez
NUST, MCS

Depression is the most common problem faced by almost everyone now especially today’s youth. Different surveys show that rate of depression and number of suicides is increasing among college and school students more and more now.

WHAT IS DEPRESSION

Feeling down or sad from time to time is normal as everyone feels that in life but feeling this for longer period of time and if emptiness or despair doesn’t go away then this is called depression.  There are people who overthink that they have depression when in actual they don’t have any serious depression and there are also people who go through major depression without seeking help thinking its normal but it usually is not normal. For example clinical depression is something more than a feeling sad or grief. It is kind of mental illness that affects the entire person, the way he/she thinks or acts completely changes usually following some loss of dear or near.

Girls are diagnosed with depression five times more than boys. Young women are more likely to be sad and withdrawn, and that young men tend to act out in antisocial ways when depressed – like being aggressive or stealing.

Sometimes the signs of depression in youth are masked and are difficult to recognize. The signs are often labeled as “acting out behaviors,” and result in punishment rather than treatment for depression.

About 25% of young people suffer depression by the time they are 24, but very few seek help. This is often due to not understanding depression and being worried about what their friends might think.

GENERAL SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

• A feeling of sadness and hopelessness (belief that there’s no way to stop feeling stressed out and sad). 
• Moodiness (irritability, feelings of anger and sadness for weeks at a time). 
• Eating disturbances (eating either too much or too little) · 
• Sleep disturbances (nightmares, too much sleep, too little sleep) · 
• Changes in social life (depressed teenagers stop spending time with their friends. 
• They often refuse phone calls).
• Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

CAUSES OF DEPRESSION

• There can be a lot possible cause or reason behind depression. Like,
• Fear of failure social rejection
• bodily sickness bullying or abuse,
• childhood memories 
• thoughts of a better life 
• separation with family
• worries about the future
• poor academic performance
• fear of what others think of you (low self-esteem)
• not able to find a solution of problem, got stuck in some problem
• not living up to other’s expectations. 
• family conflicts (parent’s separation, marriage etc.)
• poorness or low living standard
• family history of depression
• loneliness
• sometimes no obvious reason

IDENTIFYING YOUR CAUSE OF DEPRESSION IS IMPORTANT:

There are many cases in which one doesn’t actually know why they are depressed, they just feel sad or feel unnecessary depression .In today’s fast pace of life almost everyone is going through depression but what worst is done is that we keep going on in this state without identifying what can be possible cause of our depression, thinking that we don’t have enough time to think about cause or identifying main problem which is the most important thing in order to reduce depression due to it.

Identifying the cause of depression is the quickest and foremost treatment of this case. Once you identify what is causing you depression only then you try to fix real problem and later go for its treatment or solution.

For example many people have this fear of what others think about them. It’s normal to think like that as opinions of others always mean to us but when it converts to fear or constant tension in everyday life, is not right and thus becomes a basic cause of depression. Now if the person living daily life routines with this fear may not recognize that this is the main cause of depression he/she is facing rather failing grades in classes is the reason. Constant fear that what people will think of you for instance thinking that people (friends, class fellows)will think that you are a big failure actually can make yourself fail in the end thus causing depression more and more. Realize that other people’s opinions of you are theirs alone and have very little to do with you. As Sean Stephenson says: “What people say about you is none of your business”

TREATMENT:

·         Counseling / sharing your problem: Best way to treat your depression is talk to someone about it. Share your problem and ask for help. Counseling always helps but isolation fuels depression. Let your family and friends know what you’re going through and how they can support you.

·         Exercise Exercising daily, even little, helps in relaxation, releasing stress and boosts mood.

·         Healthy diet: Studies suggest that a good balanced diet helps a great deal in happy and less stressful life. Bad health adds to more depression.

·         Positive thinking: Changing your lifestyle and thinking positively helps greatly releasing the stress. Challenging negative thought patterns is difficult but effective.

·         Professional help if above mentioned solutions does not help it’s always best to go for professional help. Seeking professional help is for your own good and help so shouldn’t feel embarrass about it as people usually avoid it because of this reason. : Professional help usually includes some therapy and medications.

HOW SCHOOL AND COLLEGE INSTITUTION CAN HELP YOUTH:

Students spend a lot of time in college or schools so these institutions can help facilitate prevention, identification, and treatment for depression in children and adolescents by constantly observing, evaluating and helping them.

Since teachers are experienced and well educated, they can understand and tell if a student is going through some depression so can help more if parents may not recognize their child’s depression.

Institutions first need to  take certain steps to ensure reducing student’ s depression like building a caring environment for student, preventing all kinds of bullying, facilitate prevention, identification, and treatment for depression in children and adolescents like  having separate counseling department  or office for hearing and providing help to all kinds of problems.