Thesis Example: Depression in Young Adults

It is not that young people do not want to be happy; it is just that, despite how hard they try, they cannot bring themselves to be happy. Depressed people always feel suffocated, weighed down and often ashamed. What is even worse is that most of them do not have the courage to share it with others. They end up leading a very boring and solitude life. Some will even blame themselves for bearing such feelings and feel like outcasts in the society. Efforts to try and hide the tears behind the smile can only go so far, and if you are not keen, you might fail to tell a fake smile from a real one. The thing with happiness is that it cannot be bought; it is something that we create. One could have everything working out well in their life yet lack this important gift. You can have great family, beautiful relationship, awesome grades, and amazing life but still, lack happiness (Depression and Anxiety Issue Information, 2013). In this fast-paced world where everyone is obsessed with success and getting ahead, it is easy to lose track of the important things in life such as happiness. Eventually, the perpetual loss of happiness in ones life leads to depression and this paper is going to expound on depression among young people.

People are always quite fast to rule out the possibility of depression among young people. Some will base their theory on the assumption that young adults have little responsibilities and therefore, have no reason to be stressed or depressed. However, that is where they go wrong. Recent studies indicate that the national trends in depression among adolescents and young adults are on the rise. An article in Time magazine showed that the percentage of depressed young adults had significantly jumped from 8.7% in 2005 to 11.5% in 2014 (Time.com, 2017). The adolescent stage is marked with being moody, daring, and rebellious of the law. It happens to be a very confusing stage for young adults, and without proper guidance, it is a phase where a lot of mistakes can be made. Most adults are not usually in a position to understand, and for that reason, they dismiss any concerns brought forth by these group. Nevertheless, whereas sadness, anxiety, and mood swings are common phenomena among young adults, depression is a significant problem too.

Symptoms of depression among the young adults include low self-esteem, sleep disorders, reduced energy and concentration, loss of interest in the normal daily activities and being in a constant general moody phase. To the counselors and peer educators, this may not come as a surprise as they are used in such cases and are usually the go-to people by the depressed. The number of young adults struggling with depression is staggering, and it is the time that we did something to avert this epidemic. There is a significant drop in productivity of the depressed young adults, and this affects their academics and career. Mental health crisis among the young adults has been linked to the environment and their family background in particular (Thomas, 2000). The cases of depression are higher in children who come from single parent homes, have experienced sexual violence in the past, economic hardship, community violence, and most recently cyber bullying (Depression More Prevalent in Unemployed Young Adults, 2015). With the current overstimulation of social media, many young people are spending too much time on the net that they forget to live.

As a community, we all have a role to play in reducing cases of depression among young adult. We should make it our job to check out for each other and make the lives of those around us better through our words and actions (Jureidini, 2009).

References

Depression and Anxiety Issue Information. (2013). Depression and Anxiety, 30(12), p.na-na.Depression More Prevalent in Unemployed Young Adults. (2015). JAMA, 313(16), p.1610.

Jureidini, J. (2009). How do we Safely Treat Depression in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults? Drug Safety, 32(4), pp.275-282.

Thomas, H. (2000). History of childhood maltreatment increased risk of depression in adolescents and young adults. Evidence-Based Nursing, 3(3), pp.87-87.

Time.com. (2017). Teen Depression in the U.S. Is on the Rise. [online] Available at: http://time.com/4572593/increase-depression-teens-teenage-mental-health/ [Accessed 17 Aug. 2017].