School's are Depression Encouragers

Siani Davis

English 3

Larissa Pahomov

2Fer #7

School’s are Depression Encouragers

Depression is a more intense feeling of sadness. Along with this comes feeling hopeless, anger and frustration which lasts for longer than just a day. It lasts for weeks, months, or longer. These things make it hard for teens to function as normally as they would naturally. Approximately 20 percent of teens will experience depression before they reach adulthood. Between 10 and 15 percent of teenagers go through symptoms of depression. Having this, even increases teen’s risks for attempting suicide. Depression increases in teens lives because of school's strict expectations of them.  

Depression can affect teen’s performance at school because of the unrealistic expectations school’s have for them. School’s expect every student no matter what their situation is to attend everyday and do their work on time consistently. This causes grades to drop because this teen may find it hard to concentrate and to stay on top of their school work because of the many factors the teen may be experiencing. This includes high or worsening stress levels, restlessness or agitation, or having a lack of enthusiasm, energy or motivation. Being in a school setting where students are getting homework most days out of the week from multiple classes can be really hard on a student that is going through these types of mental issues on a daily basis.

Another challenge that depressed teens are facing in schools are teachers thinking that a teen is not trying in class. This is happening because the attitude the student could be expressing is not adequate representation that the teacher is expecting. The teen could be experiencing withdrawal from activities and other school work. The student can not help that he or she is feeling this way though if they are not receiving the help and care that they need, that is why it is a problem. Teachers need to recognize students that are going through depression and need to make sure that they do not make their lives a lot more difficult.

Peers may think that a particular teen going through depression is too negative and can start giving them a hard time when doing class work assignments. This happens because a symptom of depression in teens is expressing feelings with more hostility. A teen can begin to act in a more aggressive or risk-taking manner. It is difficult for a depressed teen to regulate their mood and emotional responses naturally. So this is why it is so important to have awareness in school, so that there is not this conflict between students. This will be a start of a much healthier environment.

Depression is a serious issue that needs to be treated and respected by school officials. School’s need to create a healthy environment for depressed teens because if depression is left untreated, the issues students face will increase greatly. The symptoms can result in a life threatening situation, and many other bad scenarios. Therefore the school providing therapy or other forms of help of that nature, will be extremely helpful for the many teens that go through this struggle in life.

Works Cited

"Depression In Teens." Mental Health America. N.p., 08 Dec. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/depression-teens

National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/teen-depression/index.shtml

"B. Depression, Anxiety, & Fatigue." The Impact of School Start Times on Adolescent Health and Academic Performance. N.p., 06 Dec. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. https://schoolstarttime.org/early-school-start-times/depression-anxiety-fatigue/

Jaycox, Lisa H., Bradley D. Stein, Susan Paddock, Jeremy N. V. Miles, Anita Chandra, Lisa S. Meredith, Terri Tanielian, Scot Hickey, and M. Audrey Burnam. "Impact of Teen Depression on Academic, Social, and Physical Functioning." Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics, 01 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/4/e596?sso=1&sso_redirect_count=1&nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token