Adolescent Depression: A Growing Dillema

Our children will one day be the leaders, it is therefore imperative that we take a good look at the current realities of modern adolescent depression and make massive efforts to prevent its growth and proliferation amongst our youth.

The pressures of modern living are also having a detrimental effect on our adolescent youth. Take a look at the following statistics and be amazed.

Figures never lie and they are perhaps the best means to highlight certain facts and when they are brought to the notice of the general public leave a lasting impression. It is important to gain the attention of all who want to learn about what the statistics are saying. There are no doubts that statistics are nothing more and nothing less than concrete concepts that have the power to sway even the most skeptical of minds, and it will even show the young generation the true picture with respect to adolescent depression.

Twenty Percent Of Teenagers Are Sufferers

The first thing that will make you sit up and take notice about statistics pertaining to adolescent depression is the news that nearly a fifth of the teenage population in the US has experienced a form of clinical depression, even before having gained full adulthood.

Not only that, but there are about ten to fifteen percents of teenagers that have shown symptoms of adolescent depression and another five percent of the teenage population will have suffered from significant depression.

Secondly, another alarming aspect to adolescent depression is the fact that there is not much social acceptance when it concerns teenagers with such a condition, and what’s worse is the fact that as many as eight percent of teenagers will have experienced the re-occurrence of depression at least once a year. This is alarming because only a mere five percent of the national population suffer from depression.

When a person suffers a bout of adolescent depression it will generally last for about eight months and teenagers are also at risk that the subsequent attack of adolescent depression will strike them within a mere two years and the chances of this happening are about twenty to forty percent, and there is also a seventy percent chance that they will experience another attack of adolescent depression before they have even reached full adulthood.

Thirdly, another feature of adolescent depression is that quite a few teenagers will suffer from attacks of seasonal depression. This form of depression is most likely to strike during the wintertime, it is also found in places where the altitude is on the high side. Even the weather can play a significant part in the onset of seasonal depression, which means that teenagers also need to be aware of these external effects on the state of mind..

Fourthly, other figures related to adolescent depression reveal that dysthymia or a mild form of depression that lasts for a long time will affect about two percent of teenagers and a like percentage of teenagers are also likely to suffer from bipolar depression when they grow older. In fact, it is thought that as many as fifteen percent of teenagers that have suffered from major depression will later on be at risk of developing bipolar depression.

Thus, it is safe to say that adolescent depression will affect teenagers no matter their social background, income level, gender as well as race or even their achievements and that adolescent depression is very common mental health problem affecting teenagers in the US.