Anxiety and Depression in Adolescence: A Social Problem Essay

1. Introduction trouble and picture in adolescence has become an increasing issue in society as cartridge clip has progressed. Rates of high trail students who qualify for the criteria that meet a mental derange ar 6-8 times higher than the same season group in the 1960s. A test given to high cultivate students over the years c every(prenominal)ed the atomic number 25 Multiphasic Personality Index (MMPI) gives us data from 1938 ( fen). The test is a personal survey ask students to answer questions near themselves on a scale from tightly agree to strongly disagree (ex. I am happy today). aff satis party disorder rates argon higher today than during the great mental picture, WWII, and the st 1-cold war. So wherefore is this happening? A factor m whatever experts agree on is a switch from an internal locus of control to an external. A majority of teens today dont feel as though they are in control of their own fate and that trick ca go for a traffic circle of stress. Th is is partial credit is payable to the way our society is shaped today we stick made a major flip-flop from an emphasis on mutant to an emphasis on work. Kids are asked to grow up much earlier. Children and teens are becoming skittish at a much larger rate than in past years. The culture we now live in puts much much(prenominal) than than pressure on young the great unwashed at a younger cleave on, forcing them to grow up. The fear is crippling if left untreated, and with the amount of mess experiencing it, its a amicable business worth looking into.2. Where does solicitude and falling off come from?The aetiology of foreboding and depression peck be traced indorse to an idiosyncratics first stage of life. psychiatrical specialist sewer Marsh writes in his book that a pip-squeaks temperament in their first year of life washbowl examine behavioral signs that may lead to becoming an anxious child and teen. A parent stoogeidentify these early signs that inclu de excessive bouts of crying, sleeping difficulties and bumble (Marsh). These traits or actions may seem normal for an infant thus its hard to search a parent to pick up on any of these early signs, so they shouldnt bicker too much this early on. Where anxiety really starts is with an irrational fear of something that an individual perceives as a threat or dangerous.This fear ca personas a change in behavior, want an escape of a mail where umpteen another(prenominal) people are or may be present in the case of affable anxiety (Alfano). The part of the brain responsible for this fear is the amygdala, the worked up capital of our mind. The amygdalas construction is altered when we become fearful of something, making it hard for the fear to be conquered or shaken. When this fear manifests, it derriere turn into opposite forms of anxiety and thus become part of a persons emotional capability (Marsh). In essence, anxiety alters the stimulation of a certain fear into something people sessnot distri exactlye and become overwhelmed.Look moresolutions for sleep deprivation essayThe main area that psychologists and some other scientists absorb focused in on the last 10-15 years in child psychology is behavioral ban of the unfamiliar, or BI (Marsh). BI represents the tendency to exhibit fearfulness, restraint, secretiveness, and withdrawal in the face of fiction events or situations. The more inhibitions a child shows, the more likely they are to develop anxiety or hold anxious tendencies. BI is moderately heritable yet the largest factor in BI is the milieu and experiences adept has. In a check shown in Marshs book, nonshared environmental influences contribute more to BI than do factors shared by siblings, such as genetics and shared experiences.BI is little(prenominal)en by socialization, if a child becomes engaged in do work and conversation with others from an early age they are slight likely to be inhibited. paternal encouragement in this aspect is key such as parents making play dates for their children and things of that nature. Let me be clear, BI is not the same as anxiety, it is a examine precursor to anxiety that has a lot of valuable question to back up the link amidst BI and anxiety. It is a good thing for parents and clinicians to pick up on at an early age in the childs life to make the proper ad averagements to ensure no mental breakdowns occur.outside of BI as a child, there are other things that can play into anadolescent fire of anxiety or depression. One of these things is the parental influence, whether it be the parents own mental illness, mien of parenting, or the sociability of the parent, they all can affect the child. Biological predisposition is a factor a child cant control and is unfortunate. 20-50% of teens that suffer from depression, anxiety or another disorder invite a family member with some form of mental illness (Borchard). It has wide been documented that children of parents wit h any mental disorders are at a much higher risk of also ontogeny a disorder. As for parenting style, anxiety in teens and children has been associated with parenting styles characterized by limited expression of care and warmth and more inclination toward showing control and overprotection. A spile d sensation in 1991 by Krohne and Hock, observed pairs of engender and daughter solving puzzles, high-anxious girls and low-anxious girls divided the study into two groups. The psychologists found the mothers of high-anxious girls to be much more supreme than those of low-anxious girls (Marsh).A young person, with the exception of rail, has most their social interactions due to their parents connections. They tolerate Thanksgiving with their cousins, aunts, and uncles and micturate barbecues with their parents work colleagues and their families. If a childs parents are less socially involved, it hinders the childs ability to grow and advance these skills, causing an emergence of anxiety in these situations (Marsh). Besides parental contact, the most beneficial relationships for young people to have are compulsory relationships with their compeers. Peer victimization is a common experience that negatively affects young people psychologically. Recent research findings are a bit appalling, indicating that one in five youths are chronically exposed to current abuse, whether it was physical, verbal, or any other form (Muris). These occurrences of bullying were most strongly linked to depression, low-self esteem, and social anxiety. An provoke study was done in 2005 by Strawser, Storch, and Roberti. They gave undergraduates a Teasing Questionnaire (TQ), which measures the degree to which people could recall origination teased during childhood.Results demonstrated that TQ scores were linked to social anxiety, trait anxiety, worry, and anxiety sensitivity (Muris). This study shows that peer victimization can play a key role in the festering of mental disorde rs and the long lasting pieces it can have. A place of interest I had whileresearching was if there were any struggles in fiscal and ethic status in the community and if that had any significant effect on anxiety and other mental disorders. In cosmopolitan, the socio sparing status of a youth was not a deciding factor in occurrence of mental disorders but one thing that does hinder those of less fortunate situations is they are much less likely to seek or receive discussion due to the costs. Most studies carried out in the US have found that children from ethic minorities (i.e. African American, Hispanic American) exhibit higher trains of fear and anxiety than Caucasian counterparts. This also may be due to the fact that more minorities live in urban settings versus suburban settings, which can cause a sometimes more disagreeable living environment. strivingful or traumatic life events are definitely a factor in a child or teen developing any number of disorders.Post Traumat ic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that is directly connected to a significant single event or string of events happening. In a journal I found, the goal of the study conducted was to look at the difference between dependent and independent events and the effect they had on pre-adolescent children. Dependent events are events that the individual actually chooses to do or directly involves the individual, such as choosing to par offspring in medicines. Independent events are things the individual has no control over such as the death of individual close to them. The findings of the study were that anxiety and depression are very likely to occur after dependent stressful events and independent life events were less likely to have effects lasting long-term than six months (Eldemira). The results of this study suggest that life choices have more influence in mental disorders than things out of ones control.These are just general reasons children and young adults can develop ment al disorders. Todays society produces a variety of other factors that are specialised to our time, showing the difference that has progressed over the decades. Students suffer today the immense pressure to get good first floors in order to get into one of the elite colleges of the nation. From 9th grade in high school, kids are under the impression that unless they get straights As, their college options are going to be very limited. This is a level of stress that in past generations was not present at such a young age. other thing unique to our decade is the phenomenon that is social media. Thepopularity of sites like Facebook and Twitter and the smartphone era in general has caused elevated levels of anxious teenagers. This anxiety doesnt come directly from social media, but from beingness away from it. A study done by Wilhelm Hoffman of the University of Chicago compared social media addictiveness to other things with addictive qualities. The results came back with the fact that social media was harder to resist than alcohol, caffeine, or cigarettes (Fitzgerald). Overall, the most significant factor in recent years is the change from innate to extrinsic goals.3. Different Types of DisordersThere are a large number of anxiety and depression disorders, with many twists and turns that make diagnoses very specific. In order to keep from being too repetitive this section allow for focus on some of the most largely diagnosed disorders including general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and general depression. Discussing the symptoms and what these disorders think is the goal of this section in order to provide a solid base of knowledge of just what young people are suffering with today.3.1 Generalized misgiving DisorderChildren with general anxiety disorder or GAD are plagued by worries most children or teens can shrug off. Often referred to as little adults, these children are concerned virtually things like health, personal value, safety, and their f uture day. They also tend to worry a lot close to other people and their issues, which have nothing to do with themselves, such as the neighbors fight down they had last night. These worries become a central part of daily thoughts and this can disrupt development and adjustment to life (Essau). GAD has mostly been documented and studied in adults this is because in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) up until the 4th edition over-anxious disorder (OAD) was what this was called in children. These conditions are considered very similar and overlap many symptoms so now GAD is the universal term used regardless of age.The main symptoms of GAD in the DSM-IV are excessive worry about multiple topics, difficulty controlling or regulating the worry, corporeal symptomsthat accompany the worry, and functional impairment resulting from the worries. There are a lot of overlaps in symptoms of anxiety so if these are restricted to separation from someone, social si tuations, or a specific event than GAD is not the right diagnosis.3.2 complaisant anxiousness DisorderAnxiety as a whole is conceptualized as a tripartite system (Alfano) consisting of physical symptoms, subjective or cognitive distress, and behavioral avoidance. brotherly anxiety affects about 5-16% of young adults ages 15-24 depending on what study or survey you look at. Regardless, its too many people being affected than should be. The physical symptoms of social anxiety include tachycardia (a heartbeat that exceeds 100 beats per minute), blushing, trembling, and sweating. These can occur not only in a social situation but in the presentiment of an upcoming event as well. An investigation performed in 1985 by Beidel, Turner & Dancu found that systolic crosscurrent pressure and heart rate significantly increase when someone who suffers from SAD was talking to someone of the antagonist sex (Alfano).Cognitive symptoms are very similar to that of GAD but its mostly the undue w orry that the person will do or say something that will be seen by others in a group as embarrassing or humiliating. This can take the form as specific negative thoughts, a general unease in social settings, or even specific beliefs that one will not behave how they think one should in social situations. The negative thoughts are something that is ordinarily seen in most patients. Its usually one of the things that appear on self-reports and its hard to break. In my personal experience with a psychologist, she had told me that these are referred to as NATs or negative automatic thoughts. Just like the insect gnat, they are annoying thoughts that will not seem to leave someone caught in this struggle, which is why therapy is helpful to reshape the way someone thinks.The behavioral aspect of SAD is avoidance of social settings. legion(predicate) people who suffer from SAD become reclusive. These behaviors can be very subtle such as avoiding eye contact with teachers or asking to be behind-the-scenes when putting on a school play (Alfano). An interesting table I found surveyed a high school on different social events and what percentages said it caused at least a moderate level of distress and caused avoidance. The top 5 categories, oralreports, attending dances or parties, asking a teacher a question in class, head start or joining a conversation, and athletic or musical performances all had 85% or more of the students say it caused at least moderate distress and 55% or more said it caused avoidance of those situations (Huberty).3.3 DepressionDepression, for the most part, is less of a chronic disorder like most anxieties are. Depression is usually a bout that people deal with from two weeks anywhere to two years. If the symptoms dont winnow out after that amount of time, it becomes diagnosed as dysthymia, which is the chronic form of depression. Regardless of whether an individual is suffering for a nearsighted period of time or chronically, depression ca n be extremely debilitating. At any time about 10-15% of people under 21 suffer from depression. The more frightening statistic is that only 30% of these downcast people are receiving or seeking help (Borchard).There is a large range of symptoms and signs that someone is suffering from depression. These include apathy, complaints of physical pain such as headaches, stomachaches, difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite or overeating, memory loss, thoughts or obsession with death and dying, sadness or feeling of hopelessness, trouble sleeping or too much sleep, drop in grades, substance abuse and many other things. Depression, rather than get scared, seems to make someone numb to the world. Often due to some sort of disappointment such as inadequate social status, sexual frustration with orientation or inability to talk to the opposite sex, school performance or any other number of things (Gray).4. TreatmentTreatment is a twinkle of hope in todays world. Although rates of anxiet y and depression have continued to climb, treatment methods are also continuing to improve as science and technology advance. The most widely neat or praised method for treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive-behavioral is meant to represent an integration of cognitive, behavioral, affective, and social strategies for change (Marsh).A study that is pretty representative of the cognitive-behavioral cognitive process as a whole was done in 1989 by Kane and Kendall. The study took a group of adolescents suffering from anxiety and put them through therapy for 6 months. Kane and Kendall were able to divide the process of recovery into four major components 1. Recognizing anxious feelings and physical reactions to anxiety, 2. Identifying and modifying negative self-statements, 3. Generating strategies to cope in effect(p)ly in anxiety-provoking situations, and 4. grade and rewarding attempts at coping (Marsh). After the six months, self-reports, parental reports, and rep orts done by the clinicians had amend significantly. A follow up appointment was made three months after the study had ended and about 50% of the subjects had made considerable gains in adopting and using their newfound knowledge. The other half had regressed at least in some way back to old habits. This shows the differences between individuals and their needs, some can have an impatient short treatment and be fine for the rest of their days while others need a continuous support over many years.The other portion of treatment that is of importance in our time curiously is intervention by the means of pharmacotherapy. Using drugs such as anti-depressants and anxiolytics in order to stop anxiety and depression has increased as technology has improved. The three most ordinarily prescribed medicines for anxiety and depression are benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, and SSRIs. Benzos are prescribed for a short-term period for severe disabling anxiety. The way this drug works is it damp ens the boilers suit activity in the brain in order to calm the person. Beta-blockers are commonly prescribed to those who suffer from social anxiety because they essentially block adrenaline output, lessening the nerves one can feels from being excited or nervous. SSRIs are the latest and most effective antidepressant. They have been praised for their need of side effect compared to older anti-depressants. Formally selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, they keep serotonin, the neurotransmitter in wake of mood, in the brain longer causing a raise in mood.Just from 1996 to 2005, antidepressant use in the US has gone from 5.84% of the population to 10.12% (Grohol). The trend is still increasing and it may just be because more people are becomingdepressed but it also could be because of a shift to a quick-fix societal norm. We live in a world where if someone can no longer get an erection, they take a blue pill called Viagra and are ready to go. This same mindset can be applied t o drugs used for mental disorders. People can go into a doctors office and say they need something to make them feel better and skip the most all important(predicate) part of the process, therapy. Without a change in behavior, the antidepressant wont have a strong effect. It has been proven time and time again that cognitive-behavioral therapy accompanied by a drug is the most effective strategy in lowering anxiety or beating depression. Two treatments provide a greater dose and thus may provide a more rapid and efficient response (Marsh).5. Conclusion and Possible ImprovementsWe live in a rapidly changing time, and that may be one of the very reasons that so many people are anxious and depressed, the fear of the unknown and change. Regardless of whether that holds true or not, we have an obligation as a society to change the way we approach anxiety and depression in young people because they will be the leaders of tomorrow. The idea of just mess things by throwing a pill at the problem is not the right way to handle things because it doesnt have long-term benefits. It may initially be helpful but it doesnt allow an individual to look at a problem and realize the error of their ways and why was something going on. The quick-fix we have going on is in part due to a loss of sensitivity in our world as a whole. Things like Facebook and texting makes face-to-face contact less and less necessary and we lose a sense of humanity because of it. The result that may come forth if this downward trend continues is about 1/5 of our countrys soon-to-be adult population suffering from mental disorders and not being able to contribute or enjoy life to their full potential. Adolescent-onset of mental disorders has been proven to have an even stronger general toll than the adult-onset version therefore, action is necessary as early as possible (Marsh).The future isnt entirely gloomy though. We have the chance as a society to change how we deal with mental disorders in young people. One thing thatwould benefit many would be to go back to a more creative and individualized education experience. By allowing children and teens the ability to play and seek passions, we can create a system that may not produce as many CEOs but sooner people who are simply happy in their career and life. Allowing more time for children to grow up could be very beneficial for their mental health. Another possible improvement is in the medical field. devising psycho-evaluations mandatory or as important as annual health check-ups could allow early preventive action to take place. By starting this process early in an individuals life, it could greatly reduce the chance of an anxious or depression outburst to occur.The number one thing that can happen in order to change the prevalence of mental disorder rests on the shoulders of parents. By being knowledgeable in the dangers of mental disorders today, like 5,000 annual suicides, a rate triple of the 1960s, they can be the bes t preventative force. Its better to be proactive and than reactive. Muhammad Ali said it well when he stated, you can set yourself up to be sick, or you can choose to be well. The future of this social problem is in our hands, whether we choose to continue down the track where anxiety and depression rates rise, or take a stand, is all up to us. Regaining an internal locus of control, allowing creativity and individualism to thrive, and caring about happiness more so than financial wealth are ways we can stop the patterned advance of anxiety and depression in adolescence.Works CitedAlfano, Candice A., and Deborah C. Beidel. Social Anxiety in Adolescents and Young Adults Translating Developmental recognition into Practice. Washington, DC American Psychological Association, 2011. Print.This book is based on social anxiety in adolescents. Social anxiety symptoms are often seen in teens but only recently books like this one have come out that really dig into the adolescents. It looks a t the etiology of the problem, which is what I will be principally using this source for.Borchard, Therese J., Why Are So Many Teens Depressed? Psychcentral.com 03. Apr. 2004. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. .Borchard is an associate editor for Psychcentral.com and upon reading her article she had a few interesting facts that I thought were worth sharing because they show a general hopelessness in todays youth that we need to fix.De Jong, P.J., B.E. Sportel, E. De Hullu, and M. H. Nauta. Co-occurrence of Social Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Adolescence Differential Links with Implicit and Explicit Self-esteem? Psychological care for 42.03 (2012) 475-84.EBSCOhost. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.This article talks about social anxiety and depression and how they very well can go hand in hand. The study looks at two different types of egotism, implicit in(predicate) and explicit. Explicit self-esteem is deliberately self-evaluating while implicit has more to do with memory. The goal of the study was t o see if these explicit and implicit self-esteems did in fact result in higher levels of depression and social anxiety. I will use this study to look at the differences between a teens memory and actual thoughts of themselves effect on mood.Eldemira Domenech-Llaberia, et al. AGE, GENDER AND NEGATIVE LIFE EVENTS IN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SELF-REPORTS AT PREADOLESCENCE AND EARLY ADOLESCENCE. (English). Ansiedad Y Estres 17.2/3 (2011) 113-124. Academic hunting Complete Web. 17 Oct. 2012.This is a study that took students from 4th to 6th grade from 13 randomly selected schools participated. The study looked at the difference in age, gender and life events on a students prevalence to get anxiety and depression. Provides me with information based on different groups of people.Essau, Cecilia A., and Franz Petermann, eds. Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents Epidemiology, Risk Factors and Treatment. modernistic York Taylor & Francis, 2001. Print.This book is another look at how t o diagnose, deal with, and treat anxiety issues. The interesting thing with this book is its about ten years older than the other books and so the difference in findings will be gripping to look at it.Fitzgerald, Britney. Social Media Is Causing Anxiety, choose Finds. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 July 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.Fitzgeralds article talks about the effect that social media has on anxiety and just how addictive Twitter, Facebook and other things in the same category are.Gray, Peter. Freedom to Learn. The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents Is It Connected to the Decline in Play and Rise in Schooling? psychological science Today, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. .Peter Gray talks about one of my main focuses, the switch from play to work early on in a childs education and the effect that has.Grohol, John M., Psy.D. Antidepressant Use Up 75 Percent Psych Central newlys.Psych Central.com. N.p., 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 20 12. .This article is all about the rise in the usage of antidepressants and why this is happening.Huberty, Thomas J. Reed. Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention. New York Springer, 2012. Print.Thomas Reeds book was written in as an insight or sensibly of a guide in understanding what goes on in a young persons development that allows anxiety and other mental disorders to develop. Historically there has been five major factors in the development of mental disorders such as biological or social but this book adds a one-sixth schools. Reed thinks that a childs school is not only for educational growth but all other factors as life aswell. Looking into a school setting is hypercritical because outside of the home its where children usually spend most their time.March, John S. Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents. New York Guilford, 1995. Print.This is the last print source that I have it seems to be the most technical and scientific as well. John March is the chief child psychiatry specialist at Duke University and so hes a specialist among specialists. I will look into what he says and try to elaborate my research with it.McLaughlin, Katie A., Joshua Breslau, and Jennifer Green. childishness Socio-economic Status and the Onset, Persistence, and Severity of DSM-IV Mental Disorders in a US National Sample. Social Science & medical specialty 73.7 (2011) 1088-096.EBSCOhost. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.This article dives into the idea that a socio-economic status is a factor in a child or adolescences mental health. It has been documented many times, but this article found that childhood financial status wasnt usually the main factor in a childs overall mental health. I will use this article because I think that a social economic status seems like it would matter tremendously in mental health.Muris, Peter. Normal and Abnormal Fear and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents. Amsterdam Elsevier, 2007. Print.Peter Mur is book goes into the epidemiology of anxiety in children and the difference between that and normal fears. He examines how some children have a worse way of adapting to bad situations. That vulnerability is a key factor in the development of according to this book and I want to look at that portion of this book.Nicholas Allen, et al. Parental Behaviors During Family Interactions Predict Changes In Depression And Anxiety Symptoms During Adolescence. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology 40.1 (2012) 59-71. Academic Search Complete. Web.17 Oct. 2012.A journal investigated the longitudinal relations between parental behaviors observed during parent-adolescent interactions, and the development of depression and anxiety. Positive and negative parental behaviors were examined. This is a great thing to look at for my paper because parents play a huge role in a childs development.Zavos, Helena M.S., Ph.D, Chloe C.Y. Wong, Ph.D, Nicola L. Barclay, Ph.D, and Jonathan Mill, Ph.D. Anxiety esthe sia In Adolescence And Young Adulthood The Role of Stressful Life Events, 5HTTLPR And Their Interaction.Depression and Anxiety 29.5 (2012) 400-08. EBSCOhost. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.