Depression in Young Adults

10 Pages 2516 Words

lying, and being consistently disobedient (Fassler 66). The disorder may stop a child from participating in daily activities, and leave them feeling worried, withdrawn, and even restless. Children suffering from depression tend to display overly clingy or needy behavior especially around family and friends. When teens feel that they are no longer surrounded by the people they love, they tend to think and sometimes do the worst. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youth’s aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group still remains greatly under diagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal life that may often continue into adulthood. There are major indicators that all people should be aware of to let people know that they might possibly be depressed. Some of those symptoms are as follows: (1) the depressed mood – more than 90 percent of depressed people appear to be depressed. They look sad, their mouths are often turned down at the corners, their eyes may appear red and swollen from crying and they may lack a sense of humor. They will frequently show little interest or enjoyment for activities that they normally find enjoyable and may sometimes express fears of total loss of feeling (Strange, 1992, p. 259). (2) Anhedonia – this is the lack of pleasure. Nothing the depressed person does can make them happy, for example, eating, going out, seeing friends and engaging in sports. They derive little pleasure from anything, and have no desire to participate in anything that was once pleasurable to them. (3) Pessimistic thoughts – the person experiences pessimistic thoughts about the present, future, and past. They include the feeling of worthlessness, failure, and lack of self-confiden...