Teen depression is on the rise 5B Seer Chen
Have you been feeling tired all the time? Or, have you been facing sluggishness? Any feelings of sadness or having troubles in concentrating? If your answers to the above questions are ‘yes’, then maybe you are on the brink of teen depression. Wait, don’t freak out now before you figure out what is happening to yourself. And perhaps, after you understand the situation, you will feel a lot calmer.
Recently, there are more and more HK teenagers facing the problem of depression. It is a mental problem that causes persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how teenagers think, feel and behave and causes emotional and behaviour problems. Many people may view it as a weakness and feel ashamed of themselves. However, it is not a weakness. The only solution to deal with it is to get long-term treatments, such as medication and counselling.
Actually, there are lots of factors that could contribute to the phenomenon. Firstly, it may be caused by hormones changes which may be involved in causing or triggering depression. In the growing body of teenagers, the influences of hormones are unstable. So, it may be a factor leading to depression.
Secondly, it may be due to the pressurized lifestyle. Teenagers, especially those studying in HK, are facing great pressure. The competitiveness and fast pace of life have made students suffer. Many of them fail to bear the pressure from unrealistic parental expectations and academic stress. They knew that if they don’t work extremely hard, they may not be able to get a place in university. Without the ticket to university, their future life will be extremely hard. Also, they may make their parents disappointed if they don’t pass exams with flying colours. In that sense, they would feel stressed when they are studying. When this kind of pressure reaches a certain critical point, they may develop depression.
Thirdly, low self-esteem is also one of the causes. Teens under peer pressure, like to compare themselves with the others. For example, those with obesity may also face social isolation and even have a low self-esteem on themselves. This, in the long run, will cause depression.
Last but not least, the modern lifestyle contributes to teen depression too. Nowadays, parents in HK usually work long hours and have less time to take care of their teens’ emotional problems. Without sufficient parental and community support, teens may find no one to share their concerns with and feel depressed. Furthermore, insufficient exercise and chances to go outdoors will also exacerbate the problem.
Students or teenagers with depression usually have two kinds of symptoms. First, it’s emotional changes. They will easily feel sad, may cry because of no apparent reason. They also have trouble in thinking, concentrating, decision-making and memorizing. Second, it’s behavioural changes. Teenagers may easily feel lethargic and be less active. Some may even inflict self-harm, trying to relieve their pressure. The above symptoms strongly affect one’s growth and life in the negative way. Therefore, teenagers facing the above symptoms need to take the below measures in order to solve their problem.
Teens should go to talk to health professionals, such as doctors to check if they are really having depression or it’s just temporary sadness. If it is really the case, then they should follow the doctor’s suggestions, to get medication and psychological counselling. This will definitely help them. Also, teenagers should share their concerns with their parents, teachers, a close friend or someone else that they trust. After sharing, they will no longer face the whole problem or worries by themselves but it would be shared by the ones they talked to. This will surely reduce the pressure and the teenager will feel a lot easier. Other than that, talking to parents and to compromise with them may help to lessen the pressure from parents’ expectations. After the parents know that their expectation pressurize them, maybe they will feel sorry and change! This will help to improve the parent-and-child relationship too. Lastly, teenagers should also find some ways to reduce their pressure by various ways to solve the root problem. For example, they can do more exercise, get more healthy diets, learn to express themselves and stay positive. These will all benefit them and let them enjoy their life too!
It may be a poor thing for teenagers to face such enormous difficulties and stress at such a young age. However, through this challenge they will learn to tackle both physical and emotional problems. They will also learn to use a positive attitude to change their situation. In this way, perhaps living in such a stressful environment may not be totally miserable. Although teen depression is on the rise, as long as there are support and suitable solutions, the problem will still be solvable. Therefore, let’s learn to be positive and create our bright future!