The Effective Of A Positive Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Identity On Depression In Homosexual College Students

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In psychology, depression can be defined as: a psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, hopelessness, and thoughts of death. Depression grows more and more common each and every day. Anti-depressant sales continue to rise, and psychologists’ rates are following right along with them. The demand for these “fixes” to depression is rising because of the newfound freeness to experience and embrace one’s own emotions. In the 1950s and 60s, it was much more common to see a housewife hiding her feelings and doing everything in her power to make her husband believe she could not be happier. Now, however, disturbing childhood memories, divorce, low self-esteem, paranoia, anxiety, and so on all are encouraged to be talked about and dealt with.
America’s youth is currently at highest risk for depression. Societal rules, school, peer pressure, parental pressure, it all takes its toll in the forms of stress, anxiety, insomnia, and some more dangerous forms such as rage, drug use, and others. One particularly highly depressed age group is first year college students. The separation of student from his immediate family can sometimes cause the onset of serious depression and/or anxiety because of the loneliness and absence of the comfort that family brings. This, on the other hand, is a time full of changes because of the absence of constant parental scrutiny as well. For example, most people try their first drug, have sex for the first time, and even have sex with the same sex for the first time. This last “first experience” is one of particular interest in this case because depression in homosexuals of this age bracket tends to exist in fairly high numbers. In general, the correlation between homosexuals and depression is much stronger than heterosexuals and depression during the college years. It appears that homosexuals, especiall...