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Chris Scott

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What can we do about the constant rise of depression and suicide in young adults?

I am seventeen years of age and have recently come out of a large stage of my life where I dealt with a lot of depression. I have dealt with and still deal with people in high school (and even middle school in some cases) that deal with depression every single day and never have anyone that they talk to about their problems.

I have known people that have committed suicide from the weight of depression upon their shoulders throughout their lives, and have heard about these cases all over the world. I, myself, have been driven to the point where I thought that the only way out of my depression was by suicide because there was nothing to help me.

I want to know your opinions and ideas on the subject of depression and suicide in young adults today and what we can do to prevent these problems in the future. Thanks for listening!

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Topics: Teenagers depression help the children psychology suicide
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  • Ilijana Vargovic Radic 10+

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    Oct 10 2011: Make them stop watching too much TV????

    • Chris Scott

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      Oct 10 2011: Well since you brought it up, what do you think is the correlation between teens watching TV and depression/suicide? What shows/movies could possibly affect teens to fall into depression? Why do you think these shows/movies do so?

      • Ilijana Vargovic Radic 10+

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        Oct 11 2011: Well, this is my humble opinion but when I mentioned TV I primarily thought of NEWS, mainstream media oh and also reality shows. Commercials as well. I mean an average human brain gets it that a movie is fiction but when you watch news regularly, commericals and reality shows - especially when it comes to younger peopele, teenagers etc it really makes way too much impression if not even a way of brainwashing them. What do they see in these news and shows? Violence, corruption, buying and selling (even the human spirit and values in reality shows) making absolutly nothing sacred. It leaves little to compliment the human species. After all, most of the tenagers think hey this is life, I should adapt and look, act, speak, eat., think, buy like that box shows me to. No offense, but I had the best time at collage cuz I refused to have a TV for around two years. I dunno, what do you think?
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        Renata K. 50+

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        Oct 11 2011: I think it's not so much WHAT is on the tv or the computer. Rather the fact that those things are solitary activities, and because they are (or we believe they are) entertaining, they are also kind of addicting. But it only causes people to be isolated and lonely and from there it's a straight way down the hill.
        I have dealt with such issues myself, sometimes still do, and in my opinion loneliness is a great part of depression. The feeling that you can't trust anyone and can't count on anyone. And if you isolate yourself from people, it's only going to get worse.
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Oct 11 2011: In addition to the good points you have both made, IIijana and Renata, there is a lot of violence on TV and video games, and I believe young children, teens and even some adults begin to "normalize" violent behaviors.
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          Renata K. 50+

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          Oct 11 2011: I agree with you on this, Colleen, but I don't think there is much connection between violence and depression. Thinking about it, I think it's not the violence, but all the action, the excitement, whether it be negative or positive - in comparison, our real life seems pretty boring. To this day, sometimes when I watch movies or tv shows I think to myself, "oh, why can't my life be like that?" TVs and computers offer a substitue world instead of our own, and I think many of us consider the real one boring and depressing after that.
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Oct 11 2011: Renáta,
        Not much connection between violence and depression? What about the recent teen suicides that are growing in numbers because of depression caused by, and reinforced with bullying?

        The question Chris asks is:
        What can we do about the constant rise of depression and suicide in young adults? It seems that violence and bullying is a major factor in many recent teen suicides.
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          Renata K. 50+

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          Oct 11 2011: Yes, that's true. I haven't thought about it that way, maybe because bullying and depression are two sides of the same coin.
          However when I was in school - at least in my school - there was no bullying at all. So I have no experience in that. But some students, myself included, were still depressed. Probably this question is actually much more complicated than we think it is...
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Oct 11 2011: Renáta,
        I think you're right...the question, and possible answers to the question, can be very complicated because there are often many different factors. It seems that bullying and depression can be connected, and may not be the cause for depression and suicide in all individuals.

        What was the cause of your depression, and the depression of other students? You mention above that your life was boring?

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