Depression and its ability to take over a young persons life.

I was one of the lucky ones, always have been, I wouldn’t call myself famous, but I would say that I was and still have a good amount of friends. Every day coming into school and just trying my best to make everyone happy. I knew I couldn't do it all, but I insisted. I had to be the best at everything. Everything. I run track, do all extracurricular activities, and try to be friends with everyone.

I have always done it my whole life and never really noticed it until a close friend kept telling me how good I was at making others laugh. I acted cool at the moment but hearing it always made me so happy. But it also made me think, why do I try to make others happy or make others laugh? I'd walk into the school, and I would plan out in my head that I was about to make a joke. A funny one at that. One that would make everyone not just chuckle but laugh.

And if anyone ever asked how I came up with so many jokes, I had a planned-out answer too. “Hey man, I have never intentionally cracked a joke in my life.” But it got repetitive, and I eventually recognized that people would only ever see the side of me that was thoroughly planned out and just unreal. Depression isn’t just being sad when something in your life goes wrong. Depression is painful when everything in your life is acceptable to a certain extent.

I mean, I wouldn’t say my life is terrible at all. I live a pretty nice life. I have a lovely mom who does everything for me and always makes sure I’m happy. But once again, there have been bad things in my life too. I was not doing as well as I had hoped at a tournament, whether that be Speech & Debate, Track, Math, or Science. Insomnia taking over my life completely.

I feel like I can never be happy, no matter how hard I try or how well I do. I will always feel like a failure because of the high standards I am held up to. Not only by my parents or myself but by the people around me. I am always expected to be the funny one or expected to be super cheery and outgoing. Even when I feel at my lowest. And because of that, I started to, in a way, hate myself for not achieving those unachievable standards I’ve been set to reach. I felt so unhappy and distressed, and I couldn't explain why to anyone. I couldn't explain because I would never understand the people I surround myself with. So I didn't talk about it.

And instead of finding the help, I began turning these unvoiced feelings into anger. I would lash out at my friends and family entirely unintentionally.

Arlin Cuncic speaks out about how "Anger is not a diagnosable mental health condition. Rather, it is an unpleasant emotion that may be experienced by those with various mental health disorders as well as the non-clinical population. While it is natural to feel angry from time to time, feeling uncontrollable or maladaptive anger, particularly when you also have depression, can be a sign of a deeper underlying problem." (Cuncic, 2021)

Luckily these random outbursts only occur at home, at the end of the day. But not so lucky. I get in trouble a lot at home because of it. Depression stems from judgment from peers and a person's home life. Whether that is not being accepted for who they are or just domestic violence inside the home, this can lead directly to suicide rates skyrocketing and a lack of confidence in young people.

Today, we will see that judgment and a non-accepting or abusive home life causes depression in younger people that is easily overlooked. We will talk about suicide rates skyrocketing snd lack of confidence in younger people. Then finally, we will work towards the solutions.

Social media and other online platforms where people are directly able to talk to one another is a place that is open to lots of communication and sharing, which means it is also a place that is also open for hiding and the diminishing of thoughtfulness which both lead directly to judgment.

Bella Fleps in 2021 tell us that “Social media is unfortunately shaping our concept of beauty. Studies have found a correlation between the time spent on social media and a negative body image. The correlation is especially true when participants were scrolling through appearance-related content, like accounts of a fitness instructor or model on Instagram.”

It sounds insane how social media can affect it, but body dysphoria is no joke. The issue may be that they look as skinny as someone else or something minor like that, but the person may spend time and money daily trying to fix this issue, causing it to be very major. The bodies seen on Instagram or Snapchat are often exaggerated in certain parts [ex. Around the waist to make them look skinnier] to get more views and likes.

It is all fake and primarily just for show to get famous and get more money. They wear bright, solid-colored outfits because they are easy to photoshop. They capture themselves at flashy, expensive places just to keep you involved and curious about their lies, causing you to compare yourself to them.

“Social comparison is a form of sociological self-esteem, where we derive our sense of self through comparing ourselves with others.”(Warrender 2020).

Sadly we do live in a world surrounded by outside influences, so much that it's almost impossible not to compare ourselves to others. Once we see them post on Instagram a new outfit they had just gotten, we tend to believe that is what everyone is supposed to look like. We seem to think that the more edited or photoshopped the photos we see, then we set our standards without a second thought of perfection.

Someone's home life, whether they are suffering from domestic violence or having trouble being accepted, can surround a young person with nothing but psychological and emotional damage to their mental state. We may, as young people, think that the outside world and any confrontation are dangerous or scary. Still, we don't consider how hazardous and mentally damaging someone's home life could be.

The violence that goes on behind closed doors in homes against a teenager or a young adult often goes completely unnoticed by teachers, close friends, or even family members. Home is supposed to be safe for everyone, especially for young people as they grow and develop. It is a space where the place is open—free of judgment, free of any sort of threats, discrimination, or violence. Often when most young people think of their homes, they think about it as a place of hiding and a place of danger for emotional and physical safety.

Parenting needs to be more revolved around accepting who your kid is, regardless of their sexuality, and less concerned about what these “fake” society standards say they need to be. When we learn to give ourselves compassion and respect, the standards or the medophrocial ropes of self-judgement and not respecting ourselves starts to be lifted. We place these standards with peace and acceptance.

But then the ropes suddenly fall back around the child, even tighter this time because their parents, their guardians, the people who have been put in place to protect them shame them for the littlest things causing so much damage to them.

Its hard to come to terms with the effects of depressing on young people but suicide rates have defienty gone up.

According to Americas Health Rankings“Suicide is a serious public health problem among all age groups. Among youth, it exacts an enormous toll due to the significant years of potential life lost. In 2018, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among 10- to 24 year-olds.”

“Teen suicide increased 26% from 8.9 to 11.2 deaths per 100,000 adolescents ages 15-19 between 2013-2015 and 2017-2019.” (AHR, 2021)

Depression has a severe effect on young people. Still, depression is not just feeling sad or uninterested occasionally because that is normal. Everyone feels sadness at some point. Still, when a child feels sadness and hopelessness all the time, they may have depression. But overlooking a young person, especially teens, signs of depression as just a quick moment of sadness can cause their mental health to start going downhill.

Depression is a common mood disorder easily overlooked as just momentary sadness. The symptoms of depression can impact all aspects of a young person's life, including how they think, feel and handle daily activities.

Every one of us has tremendous potential, and we are all endowed with different gifts. Nevertheless, a degree of self doubt holds us back. The fundamental issue isn't a lack of technical information so much as a lack of self-confidence.

Veronica Cisneros wrote about depression's ability to degrade yourself-esteem. “Depression and low self-esteem are two sides of the same coin. While low self-esteem leaves people vulnerable to depression, depression can absolutely destroy self-esteem. But, though low self-esteem may be deeply rooted, there are things you can do to improve it, even if you are suffering from depression.”

Confidence helps us feel ready for life's experiences. When we're confident, we're more likely to move forward with people and opportunities — not back away from them. People who are low on confidence might be less likely to try new things or reach out to new people. If they fail at something the first time, they might be less likely to try again. A lack of confidence can hold people back from reaching their full potential.

One of the most important things when battling depression is to know that there's always a solution, whether that solution is through always encouraging a healthy lifestyle. We have proven that most teenagers will experience depression during their adolescence.

Even if a teen doesn't have depression, chances are they have gone through some moody days, leaving you worried about what you don’t know about teenagers and depression. We need to make sure to follow three easy recommendations to go through a healthy road to recovery.

According to Everyday Health you need to “Encourage your child’s passions. The more you can support your children to continue to do things that bring them joy and make them happy and make them feel masterful, the better off they are,” points out Dr. Gudmundsen. This type of support is an important investment in your child’s well-being. Additionally, when teens are down, encourage them to stay involved with friends and school. Model healthy living. Live your life the way you wish your teen would live theirs — get enough sleep, eat a healthy diet, be physically active, model good relationships, and cope with stress.

Also, if you are depressed, seek help — depression in a parent is a risk factor for teenage depression. Insist on regular sleep. Teens whose parents set a 10 p.m. bedtime (and enforce it) are 25 percent less likely to experience teenage depression or suicidal thoughts, according to a study of data from 15,000 adolescents who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Even though your teen may claim to function well as a night owl, you should know she still needs eight or nine hours of sleep a night.”

Teenagers and depression do not have to go hand in hand. Remember that, as a parent, there is a lot you can do to prevent teenage depression.

You are the only one who is able to help fulfill the solutions to the battle of depression. Don’t ever ignore the signs, it is easily overlooked but it is also a very serious condition and only you can help beat this battle.