Why would a 15-year-old adolescent decide to commit suicide? Mental trauma, you guess, or chronic pain and a sense of self worthlessness. What about a 9-year-old boy or girl? Would it be out of curiosity after watching sensitive sense on a movie? Let us now talk about a 24-year-old, that glowing gentleman that just cleared a degree course and hopefully getting things done in the right way. He is dancing the sweetest song of life, a rising star and an attraction for the teens to set an example … Could in it be a breakup in a love relationship?
When we start to talk about depression and its effects on teens and the young youths, we are actually directly addressing the old and members in the parenthood. And all members in the society in the older age bracket. In the recent past, according to report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of suicide among teens and young adults between the ages of 10 to 20 increased alarmingly to nearly 60%, from 8% between 2007 and 2018 worldwide. And the advent of COVID-19 in 2019 has just made things even worse.
In the World Health Organization (WHO) record of public health, it is reported that suicide death rates among teenagers and young adults have increased at alarmingly in the past decade and one of the causes of is stress and depression. In fact, suicide rates among youths is higher than any age group across world population.
Do all parents know that teens are sometime badly and deeply depressed? As much as peer pressure is a common topic in this decade, not all are aware that peer pressure can pose a great threat of depression to a teen or a young adult. Stress and depression management in teens and young adults is one of the most complex tasks go about. One mistake in the move could lead to a greater side effect and failing to handle it is just more dangerous. It is actually encroaching the life of the girl child in greater pace.
This is an age bracket where the mind is still developing and maturing up. Self-awareness issues are just on the verge of a start in life and with a lot of misconceptions, most members of the age group is a confused lot in many ways.
From the as most common as peer pressure and influence, causes of stress, depression and suicide in teens and young adults include bullying, social media, academics, health issues, drug and substance abuse, poverty, and fear of the unknown.
The use of social media among the young generation is of double standards when it comes to social health and mind development. Social media, however, still stand out with overwhelming riches and great importance to business growth and online work to the international community at large when it is put to correct use. It is, however, a great issue to the young generation who still do not understand how to better strategize social media for interpersonal and socio-economic growth and development.
The modern child is exposed to social media as soon as they learn to use the basic electronic devices and computers and this greatly change their behavior; their way of communication, dating trends, method of learning, sleep patterns, performance in exercise and even travelling. It is a good notice that the average teen spends even more than ten hours daily using their computers and other electronic devices. The use of social media among the young population must be monitored closely by parents and childcare providers to curb any unnecessary harm to the health of your child.
Parents should know how to restrict their lovely sons and daughters from getting access to sites with hard content. Discussing with your child about this condition works way even better.
How will you approach the youth about all these restrictions? As I mentioned earlier, this is one of the most complex agenda in the society and family build up. The teen always shy away during these discussions and they can’t take longer that even thirty minutes attentively listening to you about such a topic. Impressively addressing this topic, even bringing it up in the first place requires a tactical approach. You could start by asking about what the teacher said at school about the same…. Yes, teachers at school will have to speak it out the student by force. They have learning aids that help them say things figuratively. You could buy for your kids the books and articles that are addressing the same topics in simpler language, it will help them grow up solely perfectly.
During your childhood ages, do you remember how you were bullied? BULLYING… How was your bully looking like? From my experience, bullying is a very experience. I can remember I was bullied for around one year when I was a junior during my junior school education. I was bullied by girls who were my age mates. Huh! I still laugh at myself when I stop to think about. Sharon and the other girl would always chase me around and sometime beat me up on my way from school in the afternoon or when I was sent out on errands. Ha-ha, they were two and I was always alone and helpless when they found me.
The worst part of this duel is that I never spoke it out to anyone, to my older siblings or even to my parents, and one day they were sent to our place in the morning, I just peeped at them but I did not step outside. What a fearful toothless dog I was! The most important part of my story that I want you read about this is that I started to hate walking around and being sent out on errands by my mother. On some occasions, I would start shedding tears when I am sent out, or hide out at a corner for so long to check out if the road is clear and no Sharon is passing by. Now, as a parent, think about it, a boy, a teenager, refusing to be sent out or never willing to walk out of the compound without any reason at your notice. When you send out your boy on errands and take longer than never before every after day. Surely, it was pressure and stress on my side.
But that was a lucky me! I would find peace at the end of the day and sleep very well. Some teenagers are bullied by their caretakers and pass though lots of child abuse sagas. Child abuse and bullying by uncaring adults at home has led to lots deaths to the juniors. The juniors would consequently run away from home and into the world of nobody, no care and no appreciation. Child abuse is still a big issue of agenda in the third world countries where the underage is expose to hard labor as some are given the responsibility to take care of a family at a cost of family break ups. When parents separate with bad motives, children sometime suffer a lot and they can contemplate suicide.
Cyber bullying is just another form of bullying that kids meet at the internet. It disturbs the mind of a young youths beyond measurable effects. Let us all join hands together to fight away any form of bullying to our lovely kids and young siblings to build a happy generation.
Have you ever thought about it? That academics can cause stress and real depression, and even untimely death. Many students go through hell in the mind when things are not working their way at school. This also come with peer influence. It is better to understand that in a class of forty students, some will be engineers, others doctors, part of the group may work in the media as the rest become actors, actresses, footballers and musicians. That is a complete society on its own.
Some students sometime put a lot of pressure on themselves when they see their close friends perform better in particular subjects at school. Imagine yourself at teenage, your desk mate getting the highest grade in mathematics and science as you trail low in marks, and furthermore, you share a hostel or an estate. As if that is not enough, he is eloquent enough and passes languages excellently. He is an academic giant who is loved by the school principal and every staff member in the school recognize him by name and appearance. Anyway, he is not even tall but he is known and see from far in the school compounds and during busy events. But observe him keenly, do you see him at the pitch during competitive sporting events, is he anywhere around singing and doing anything music, where else does he perform extraordinarily…
This is when I advise youths to keep on their lanes… Know your strength and major on it. This is the only way to help the young generation out psychologically, making them realize their strengths and praising them all the time they do it well.
Health issues and drug and substance abuse can be immediate causes of stress, depression, attempts of suicide and even death. Addiction that come from regular use of hard drugs can cause great effects to the mental health and even accelerate the development of diseases such as cancer. Once it is “cancer”, it is stress. Use of drugs also interfere with the general behavior and leads to criminal offences by young youths. As laws governing the use of marijuana change timely across the world, the use of marijuana has come to the increase among teens that start to believe that marijuana is less harmful than the earlier ages and decades.
It is better to pass accurate information to the youth on which is the best form of marijuana that is very useful and helpful. Yes, iron is a very important mineral for the formation of red blood cells but we can’t consume it from a metallic object made of iron, we will lose our teeth. Remember sodium is spontaneously reactive alkali metal and chlorine is a very dangerous halogen gas but processed sodium chloride is used as table salt…Not raw sodium chloride, but the processed and refined form. Cannabidiol (CBD), is only consumed at its correct form for its benefits to be observed. Therefore, it is very important to inform the youth and teens about the dangers of drugs and how they are used early enough to escape untimely and unnecessary deaths that arise from depression caused by drug use and substance abuse.
• In third world countries and underdeveloped communities, poverty is an immediate cause of depression suicide among young youths and teenagers. This is where a bright student yearns for education but drops out of school due to lack and poverty. A talented footballer starts to compare with an age mate from a developed country and starts to put more pressure on himself, that just bring him down in the long run. All these lead to stress and related side effects.
Youths subscribe to alcohol consumption and use of drugs to “clear” their minds of the crazy ideas that develop up afterwards. Poverty also leads to the fear of the unknown where youths keep thinking about tomorrow in a negative way. Actually, many young adults in these countries think that their future is darker their today life. And a big number of university students in third world countries spend much of their time thinking about their tomorrow that concentrating in studies.
Students are not able to adequately study the demanding courses that are core for economic developments just because of poverty and a big number of the few who struggle through get caught up in depression that they never get anything of great importance at graduation. Therefore, many young adults end up misplaced in politics because they did not study the right way.
Poverty and fear of the unknown is a great set back and uphill to any kind of development. Poverty causes hunger, anger and hatred that leads to scrambling of the limited resources in the society. This leads to stress and depression on the less fortunate in the community, majorly the young adults that end up very much devastated and frustrated.
Depression is a real affair in the society and it affects the young population even more than the older people. One reason being that the older population are mature enough and they can behave better at times of hardships. The elderly are much more experienced socially. The young generation has to be guided closely on matters of depression to conform to the say; “New brooms sweep better”. I say new brooms sweep better when they are made well.
Health Blog. 