Teen Suicide & Depression

                For my research memo #2, I further researched depression in young teens. To help me with my research, I found two articles to analyze and gather information from. My first article focuses on depression and how it’s more than just any sadness. My second article focuses on teen suicide and also has some helpful information and facts about depression in teens. I annotated articles and bolded words and/or phrases that are key in my research. I found that the articles were very helpful with my research.

                The first article is called Depression: Way beyond the blues.  It’s a good title because it is true. Depression is a mental illness and if causes teens to feel great sadness and agitation for more than two weeks. Clinical depression is severe enough to require treatment such as an anti-depressant. Doctors find it difficult to diagnose teens that may have depression because every teen has mood swings and they all act out sometimes.

                Depression can cause a teen to be suicidal, which is why it needs to be taken seriously. Teens that have depression may feel tired and not want to get out of bed, but just lie there and sleep. It isn’t always physically that you’re tired either. It can be emotionally or just in general. Someone who is depressed might let their grades slip in school. They have a feeling of worthlessness and just give up trying. There are a few different kinds of depression such as major depression and bipolar disorder. Major depression is an illness marked by hopeless feelings, inability to feel pleasure, physical changes or complaints, thoughts of death and suicide. A person with bipolar disorder alternates between periods of high activity or mania and periods of hopelessness or depression.

                Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses of our era. But luckily, it seems to respond well to proper treatment. Antidepressants help people feel better by affecting neurotransmitters and brain functions. Certain functions are thought to control feelings of security and alertness.  Although specific effects have not been worked out yet, its thought that antidepressants work by helping regulate the dysfunction in the brain that is causing a person to feel depressed.

                The second article is called surprising statistics among teenage deaths. This article gives accurate and helpful facts on depression and teen suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers.  The teens today are faced with many problems and stress. Some teens are stressed over making sports teams while other teens are stressed about getting good grades and making their parents happy or proud of them. But other teens are faced with constant depression along with problems they already have.

                80% of people who commit suicide have given clues about their intentions but at the time they weren’t taken seriously. People who are depressed should get help immediately because if they talk about suicide, they are reaching out for attention and love. Many suicides have a history of one or more attempts. Friends and family should know the warning signs for depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide.

                For my research memo #3, I will be looking at the media to see what is being done about awareness of how serious teen suicide is. I will be analyzing this media and help educate people on depression and suicide using songs, videos, pictures, ect. People tend to pay more attention to media than articles and essays in this century so I plan on choosing media that will show people that suicide and depression are to be taken seriously.