Scott was always “the best son anyone could as for.” But when he turned sixteen his life took a turn for the worse. First, his dog, which he had for 11 years, was hit by a car and killed. A few weeks later his best friend moved to another state. At his play-off basketball game, he missed a foul shot that could have won the game. That same week he failed a chemistry quiz and had a huge fight with his girlfriend. Convinced that no one cared about him, Scott hooked up a hose to the exhaust pipe on his mother’s car and slid it into the car window. He locked the garage door and turned on the car. His younger brother came home, heard the car engine, and broke down the door. Paramedics came and resuscitated him (Hales 73). Incidence of more severe depression like this occurs in less then ten percent of all teenagers although many of the symptoms, such as sadness, poor appetite, physical complaints, are seen in one-third of all teens. Depression can be life threatening. Every day twenty-six teens succeed in killing themselves. The suicide rate for teens has been tripled in the last thirty years (Wolff 6). Because teen depression is increasing in our society, we as a nation do more

Depression is likely to affect more females than males. Girls tend to depend more on opinions of others and are more likely than boys to keep anger and aggression inside and dwell on trying to please others. Also, sexual abuse, which mostly affects females, is a rising factor. It brings on feelings of powerlessness, guilt, and low self-esteem. The number of girls with depression goes way up at the start of menstruation. The female-to-male ratio of depression in adolescence is two to one (Wolff32).

to promote mental health in our youth.

Sometimes handling a crisis is scary for teenagers. Often it’s the first time in their lives they’ve had to deal with a serious problem. If unable to turn to parents for help, teenagers should consider turning to some other calm and capable adult. It’s more comforting to have someone mature and stable to lean on (Wesson 80). Teens who don’t want to open up to others can also get involved in activities whether it’s a sport at school or just going out for a run every other night. Many doctors recommend exercise for people with depression. It improves the flow of blood to the brain, raises the mood, and helps to relieve stress. Studies show that only thirty-seven percent of high school students are getting a reasonable amount of exercise. The lack of activity could be contributing to depression (Wolff 84).

Some believe that depression results from heredity and others think it is due to psychological distress. Some think the genes we inherit from our parents also determine our personalities and how we feel, think, and act while others believe “what happens to us early in life....is a more important influence on our feelings and behavior” (Wolff 23). It has been thought that people can inherit a chemical imbalance that causes these illnesses to develop. It has been shown that people with family members who suffered from depression are twenty to twenty-five percent more likely to suffer from depression themselves (Wolff 26).

Depression, one of the oldest human problems, is defined as the inability to enjoy oneself, loss of appetite or weight, lack of energy, and excessive or inappropriate guilt (Hales 13). It can appear at any age. More than eighty percent of depressed teens fail to recognize their problem nd get the help they need to recover. Instead, they blame their fatigue and aches on the flu. If they can’t eat, sleep or enjoy pleasure they tend to blame it on stress. More than half of the people who experience one episode of major depression will have another at some point in life. About twenty to thirty-five percent are chronically troubled (Hales 14-15).

There are many differen

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