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Why do so many young people have depression.

Recently in school we had a whole thing about depression and how it effects young people. I can understand why some people get depressed but can anybody offer me some insight on why it effects so many young people?

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Reply 1

Sparks17

I think its great that people like you are discussing this. I think its down to conflicting opinions in today's world. young people are the future so we should all strive to help each other. I don't mean to point the finger at anyone but excessive liberalism keeps changing people's views of the world. kids just can't be kids anymore.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 2

Godofdestruction

Original post by Sparks17

I think its great that people like you are discussing this. I think its down to conflicting opinions in today's world. I don't mean to point the finger at anyone but excessive liberalism keeps changing people's views of the world. kids just can't be kids anymore.

I think that's a fair point, if we where able to help kids with the issues that they see everyday then they could see that they could talk to people and lower rates of deppresion

Reply 3

shawn_o1

Many reasons:
-depression used to be taboo
-parents demanding too much from their children
-parents becoming too overprotective, not letting their children do what they did when they were young (including going to school by oneself)

Reply 4

Guru Jason

Because it's hip/trendy thing to say you have it. My guess and it's only a guess, is that a large minority of teens who say they are depressed actually arent but are attention seekers. Unfortunately this detracts from real depression cases and wastes valuable resources in helping those who truly need it.

Reply 5

Godofdestruction

Original post by shawn_o1

I really agree with your first point depression was completely un talked about especially in young men. But I hadn't even considered the other two. Thank you.

Reply 6

Sparks17

young people are the future, we should all help each other to be the best that we can be, and that means confronting and overcoming depression.

Reply 7

Godofdestruction

Original post by Guru Jason

And that would ruin anyone who actually has a medical reason for being depressed. I understand your point if the liars are given all the attention then those who actually need help are forgotten about. Thank you

Reply 8

username2406123

I think I'm depressed lol

Reply 9

Godofdestruction

Original post by VirgoStrain

I feel depressed very often. Mostly because I don't know what I want to do with my life. I love all the subjects at school which makes me miss when I was doing GCSE's last year and all the years before that.

And from that uncertainty young people like yourself get depressed. I hope you get through your problems and remember it's never bad for talking about it. Thank you and good luck

Reply 10

Godofdestruction

Original post by VirgoStrain

Ah thanks. I do a lot of extracurricular stuff like piano, viola, drama and writing articles for school magazines which is kind of a link to the past for me. Sometimes it makes me happy.

It seems to me that happiness is the best cure for depression, If something makes you happy then don't stop keep going.

Reply 11

DrawTheLine

I sometimes wonder if I could be classed as depressed because I feel down quite often, mainly because of my father. I feel immense pressure to be successful, all the while it becoming more and more impossible to be successful. All the demands of uni, struggles getting a job, getting a place to live etc. A-Levels have screwed me up, because at the start of year 12 I had so much motivation to achieve and succeed, but now that I've started uni I have no motivation and I'm just not sure what I want to do now. A-Levels got me so stressed and worked up that it's put me off trying to achieve things because in my opinion it isn't worth the effort. Sure I felt good on results day when I got into uni, but now reality has sunk in and I don't see the point. I'm also in a long-distance relationship that my father hates so he's giving me grief about that.

Reply 12

emigla

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/23/stress-anxiety-fuel-mental-health-crisis-girls-young-women
interesting article

Reply 13

emigla

have you tried talking to your dad about how he makes you feel?

Reply 14

Godofdestruction

Original post by DrawTheLine

I'm sorry to hear that. I really can't give any advice on your situation but I hope you somehow fix this please don't give up hope. You'll make it through.

Reply 15

username2455183

Bleak future and fewer coping skills

Reply 16

username2455183

Also increased reliance on technology

Reply 17

Godofdestruction

Original post by Poooky

Also increased reliance on technology

I didn't think the increased reliance on tech could be a additional cause of depression but in a world where you can determine your worth by who like what on instagram it makes an unfortunate bit of sense. Thank you

Reply 18

fallen_acorns

for under 18s - I would say:

- life that is ever more removed from anything natural
- less structure/rigor then in the past
- increased awareness leading to increases in correct diagnosis and also misdiagnosis.

I do think that we are asking so much of our young people today that is so far removed from anything that previously would have been thought of as a natural young life. Statistically far far less young people play outside, far less walk to school, far more use technology as a primary way of communicating, etc. I do think for young people this is not having a positive effect on their mental health.

Take for example tumblr - I dont think this is good for young peoples mental health. I have had friends who were a little moody/sad before.. but then they joined the mental health communities on tumblr, and within a few months they had multiple self-diagnosed conditions, were minorly self-harming, and were sure that their life was over and they were suffering from huge disabilities. (years later now in our late 20s, they all lead normal lives and don't want to talk much about those days...) In the past that wouldn't have existed, they would have been out playing with a few friends in a wood or a street corner filling their life with simple past times more suited for young people. The most similar you could have got in the 70s-80s was writing to a magazine agony aunt.

---

For young adults: (18-30)

The near complete destruction of what was considered staples of growing up and progressing.

stable employment for life - good luck.
Housing before your nearly 30? if your lucky..
Kids before your 30? on average not..
Marriage? less and less people get married every year..

The big staples of life that have been set for hundreds of years in this country are erroding. More and more young people are unmaried, not having kids until much later, are not able to buy their own house, and earn less money in less stable employments then their parents.

There is every reason why many of them would feel disillusioned and may end up depressed.

Reply 19

Vikingninja

Original post by Godofdestruction

I would actually say technology has had an impact on it. When I was in primary school no one even had a phone and people had to rely on actual face to face communication a lot of the time. Now there's kids on their smartphones ALL THE TIME watching stuff online or talking online rather than face to face, when I was in primary and secondary school during summer there were always kids out around where I used to live, when I went back for summer this year and knowing from living there the year before there were none minus the annoying chavs who like to go into town and piss people off. Also YT has taken a very high climb in recent years, when I was a kid it was just random stuff like the first ASDF movie and other weird videos, now there's these YTers who post so many videos that they are fans of and would rather do this than actually socialise. Also as you said the whole determining your worth on social media is ****ing stupid and is just depressing.

Not saying that technology is the sole cause, our views have also changed over time resulting in people becoming softer in a certain sense.