Adolescent Depression in The U.S. Everyday, teenagers have a routine. They usually get up, go to school, and come home. Each of these activities are filled with many complex issues, stress related problems, and pressure. These issues can lead to depression. Every 1 teenager out of 5 will develop a type of depression (Jones 1). Adolescent depression is a disease that affects the psyche in a way that the person affected with it will act and react abnormally toward others and themselves (Blackman 2). About 19 million Americans are diagnosed with some sort of depression. 9 million of them are adolescents (Jones 1). Suicide is affiliated with depression greatly. 15% of all adolescents who are diagnosed with depression commit suicide (Jones 1). Since 1995, suicide is one of the leading causes of death in American adolescents, surpassing cardiovascular disorders, and all types of cancer (Jones 2). The Minnesota study found that 88% of the youth who reported making suicide attempts were depressed. Adolescent depression is very serious, and can cause many major difficulties in a teenagers life. It is important to get to the root of depression, and take care of it at an early stage of the disease. A way to do this is to watch out for the causes, and avoid them. The main causes for adolescent depression in the U.S. are stress, the need to fit in, and family problems. Dr. Richard Brown said, the reason depression in teenagers is often overlooked because they are not always able to express how they feel(Marron 1). Since adolescence is a time of rebellion and experimentation, depression is often masked by teenagers. The challenge is to identify depressive symptoms that may be hidden by the backdrop of the storm of temporary, but expected development (Blackman 103). Because of this, it is important that everyone involved with the afflicted persons life should know of the disorder and support it(Adolescent Depression 1). Teenagers are faced with man...
