Contemporary youth is able to generate problems from nowhere. They love, hate, hurt, and forgive. However, there are those psychological problems that youngsters cannot omit simply because of the society they currently live in. The modern social environment offers many challenges that the previous generation, for example, never knew about. The environment is being more demanding than supportive. Thus, such a youth issue as a teenage depression has emerged rapidly.
First, America has been shaken by the school gun shots and the teenage depression issue was immediately brought up to societal consciousness. The problem seems to be much deeper than it is thought of at first. Many scholars deem it to be a simple form of adolescence problems and generation gap in particular. However, it is much more faceted. For example, today there have been studies carried out concerning teen and children’s psychological state exploration. Unfortunately, ‘There is an estimated 1.5-3 million American children and adolescents who suffer from depression, a condition unrecognized in children until about 20 years ago’ (Empfield, p. 38).
So, what is the cause to such a behavior? The environment offers harsh conditions of competitiveness to grow up in. The diverse levels of incomes in families push kids to achieve alluring goals disregarding the consequences. In this scope, it has to be mentioned that such a depression may lead to substance abuse and tragic events. The gender roles and a need to succeed at school put pressure on kids. The teenage depression is not a kind of disease that can be cured by medication merely. Work of psychologists is vitally important.
Unless the psychologists take actions – after the parents timely notice the problem – the teenage depression is likely to trespass its first stage and become the clinical depression. The latter is something more than just having an unlucky day or being sad. The clinical depression needs urgent medical treatment before it gets to drug abuse or suicidal thoughts. Interestingly enough, the 1980s were a totally different time period for the teenagers to develop. They had different concerns from what the modern youth has nowadays. The investigation of girl scouts showed: “Their major concerns were “the social expectations of the adult world which all have to do with pressure: the pressure to obey parents and teachers (80%), to get good grades in school (78%), to prepare for the future (69%), and to earn money (62%)” (Hersch, p. 101). The boys of nowadays seem to get a real pressure coming from the gender role strategy. The society is likely to persuade boys that they have to restrain their emotions, while girls are encouraged to express themselves. However, this does not seem to be a sign of democratic society. It is simply impossible to make boys act according to 70‘s behavioral orders and at the same time make all the modern opportunities available. Therefore, there are frequent cases of violence when grown-up men cannot express themselves verbally. And from there, the women abuse and home violence takes place.
So, the conclusion to be made here is there is a necessity to draw attention to what we want the current generation to be and evolve to. Parents need to open their eyes to how the world has recently changed and keep up with it striving to overcome generation gap. And the gender roles are to be taken into consideration, as well.
Works Cited
- Empfield, M. Understanding Teenage Depression: A Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2001.
- Hersch, Patricia. A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999. Print.