Blog Post #15: Depression in Teenagers

 To go over any possible illness that my main character could have, I decided that researching depression would give me a better view on another illness that effects teenagers daily. 

Depression in teenagers is a rising rate, with roughly 1 in 5 teens experiencing a major depressive episode. However, LGBTQ+ youth members are about 6 times more likely to experience depression. In 2023, the Trevor Project provided the evidence of 53% of LGBTQ+ youth reporting depression. 

There are often driving factors that lead to depression for teens in LGBTQ+ which are the lack of acceptance for them, the lower family satisfaction, the cyberbullying that occurs sometimes, and their lack of access to desired mental health care. There are also protective factors to help prevent the rates which are inclusive schools, accepting families, and development of coping mechanisms.

In general, depression in teenagers is gradually increasing. Over 50% of teenagers experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness. Depression can show signs of:

• Persistent sadness
• Increased irritability
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Loss of pleasure in previously enjoyed activities
• Withdrawal from social connections
• Decline in school performance
• Changes in eating habits
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Increased fatigue
• Talk about death
• Extreme anxiety
• Loss of control

Overall, the depression rates in teenagers is turning into a large problem, especially since over 50% of girls experience persistent sadness, which can count as a symptom of depression. So, this connects to my project because it gave me a stronger amount of knowledge on depression and it gave me more ideas to include in my project to represent teenagers with mental illnesses.