Theme 2 - Depression and Suicide - Shedding Light on the Issue

     Depression is defined as a chronic disorder that lasts for at least two consecutive weeks and considerably impedes one’s abilities to live a normal life. Common symptoms include difficulties in interpersonal relationships, academic and social life, as well as increased alcohol and substance abuse. Since it is a mental illness, depression is often difficult to diagnose or recognize. However, depression affects almost 10% of adults in the US. It is also one of the most common psychological problems affecting adolescents with recurrence rates of almost 70%. A majority of health care costs incurred by adolescents are attributed to depression, which emphasizes the prevalence of this condition.

     Depression is commonly linked with the increased risk of teenage suicide. Suicide is commonly defined as an attempt to end one’s life and has been defined as the third largest cause of death amongst adolescents, by the World Health Organization and Center for Disease and Control.

 The frequency of both depression and suicide amongst teenagers and the link between the two has made these conditions a matter of urgent importance, particularly in the United States. Attempts to reduce adolescent suicide are underway but not achieving substantial results. Remedial measures as well as preventive strategies are in place yet there are certain factors that inhibit complete recovery of individuals in need of these regimens.

 Therefore, it is imperative to conduct a fulfilling study recognizing the causes of both depression and suicide, suggesting measures to prevent these instances as well as help teens recover from these conditions and finally, understand what barriers stand in between the patient and the treatment so as to ensure that individuals in need receive the help they deserve regardless of social, racial, economic, ethnic, and other differences.

 A coherent understanding and evaluation of all these aspects is necessary to work up an appropriate strategy to reduce the numbers. These articles delve into different factors such as racial and ethnic backgrounds, parental support, peer influence, social media as well as age and gender differences that are contributing to depression or suicide. Some of the articles discuss possible recommendations for prevention strategies and possible methods to increase awareness in the community. All these studies are important contributors in enhancing our understanding of teenage suicide and depression and enabling the current generation to improve the lives of our budding and promising youth.

 

Resources

Farrell, Helen M. (2015, Dec). What is depression? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-IR48Mb3W

 

This is video created by TED-Ed, an educational extension of the popular TED mission to spread and share ideas with a wider audience. This video particularly addresses the issue of depression and explains it in layman’s terms to increase awareness about the topic. This video addresses the condition as a metaphoric black cow that just won’t leave one’s back unless one makes the conscious attempt to get rid of it. The video talks about how opening up about suicide in fact lowers suicidal risks and why it is important to talk about feelings. The video provides great insight about such a heavy topic in lucid language making it easy for even the youngest of individuals to understand.

 

Pena, J., Matthieu, M., Zayas, L., Masyn, K., & Caine, E. (2012). Co-occurring risk behaviors among White, Black, and Hispanic US high school adolescents with suicide attempts requiring medical attention, 1999-2007: Implications for future prevention initiatives. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47(1), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0322-z

 

This article compares and contrasts simultaneous impacts of racial, ethnic and sex differences on suicidal attempts in teenagers. The study has specifically identified suicidal attempts that required medical intervention in order to include more severe instances of teenage suicide. It also explores three important factors involved in motivating adolescents to commit suicide – depression, substance abuse and violent behavior. The study drew the conclusion that all three factors have a significant influence and it recommends incorporating schemes that deal with these factors as contributors to teenage suicide. Gender differences explored in the study discovered that males have lower rates of attempting suicide but higher rates of death by suicide as compared to females. In addition, Black and Hispanic members have higher suicide rates than their White counterparts. This research suggests that racial and ethnic differences ought to be addressed while crafting policies to reduce teenage suicide rates so as to serve a diverse population.

 

Ford-Paz, R., Reinhard, C., Kuebbeler, A., Contreras, R., Sánchez, B., Ford-Paz, R. E., & Sánchez, B. (2015). Culturally Tailored Depression/Suicide Prevention in Latino Youth: Community Perspectives. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 42(4), 519–533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-013-9368-5

 

This article delves into impact of ethnic differences on risks of depression and suicide. The study was conducted through focus groups that discussed popular causes for the prevalence of depression among Latino youth and solution regimes to prevent the same. The findings of this research accentuate the vulnerability of the Latino population as compared to other ethnic groups. This community is more likely to experience depression but less likely to receive diagnosis and complete treatment. This is an enlightening piece of research because a large population of New Brunswick (where I live) is Latino and this study emphasises that this community is repressed and needs helps.  The communal perspective initiated by this study gave a greater insight into the problems faced by Latino youth suffering from depression and can be a good place to look for effective strategies to help this population.

 

Fernando Kumari, Carter Janet D., Frampton Christopher, Luty Suzanne E., McKenzie Janice, Mulder Roger T., Joyce Peter R. (2011).  Childhood-, teenage-, and adult-onset depression: diagnostic and individual characteristics in a clinical sample, Comprehensive Psychiatry, Volume 52, Issue 6, Pages 623-629, ISSN 0010-440X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.12.006.

 

This article talks about the impact of age on the response towards depression. The study recognised that participants who had faced their first episode of depression during childhood and/or teenage where more likely to attempt suicide and face certain psychological problems as compared to participants who experienced depression as an adult. In addition the groups corresponding to teenage and childhood showed a greater susceptibility to the presence of simultaneous conditions of alcohol addiction, substance abuse, OCD, etc. The article thus highlighted an important consideration that early onset of depression can have a significant impact on latter life. This emphasises that childhood and teenage depression is an issue in society that must be handled appropriately to order to support future generations.

 

 

Pace, U., & Zappulla, C. (2010). Relations Between Suicidal Ideation, Depression, and Emotional Autonomy from Parents in Adolescence. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 19(6), 747–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9364-9

 

This article gave a perspective on how presence or absence of parental interference impacts youth susceptibility to depression, suicidal tendencies and overall emotional independence. Former literature and research has deemed parental presence as an important influencer on teenage susceptibility to suicide and depression but the link between emotional independence and these vulnerabilities has not been fully expressed. The study recognises the importance of cohesion within families as a positive influence on adolescents. The article also examines the impact of gender on such predispositions. Girls were at a higher risk of independent depressive and suicidal episodes than boys but depression was linked with suicidal thoughts in both genders. The latter indicates that gender is not a variable with regards to feelings of depression. The interaction of suicidal tendencies, depression and detachment from parents as well as emotional independence was simultaneously studied.

The study is unique in that it brings to light an important observation that although depression is often linked with suicide and vice versa, it is not a mandate that clinically depressed individuals attempt suicide or suicidal teenagers are facing depression. Therefore, it is imperative to recognise the correlation between the two when circumstances involve presence of both factors.

 

Guan, S.-S. A., Bower, J. E., Almeida, D. M., Cole, S. W., Dahl, R. E., Irwin, M. R., Seeman, T. E., McDade, T., & Fuligni, A. J. (2016). Parental support buffers the association of depressive symptoms with cortisol and C-reactive protein during adolescence. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 57, 134–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2016.03.007

 

This article is another fresh take on the perspective of parental support as a method to reduce risks of depression and suicide amongst teenagers. It also highlights the effects of social support from friends and explores the correlation between these social experiences and clinical symptoms like cortisol and C-protein activity, which are observed in the body during depression. The study indicated that parental assistance had a greater impact on suicidal ideation and depression as compared to peer influence. Interestingly, these patterns remained consistent irrespective of ethnic background. This emphasises the importance of parental roles during this difficult phase of life and suggests that social distraction can be an effective method of coping in depressed teens.

 

Dagar, A., & Falcone, T. (2020). High viewership of videos about teenage suicide on YouTube. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.10.012

 

Social media is a major influence on today’s youth and is therefore invariably involved in their susceptibility to suicide and depression. It is hence imperative to study the impact of social media exposure on youth. YouTube is the largest online source of video content readily available for public view. Contrary to expectations, the findings of the research showed that majority of the content on YouTube surrounding the topic of suicide, was informative and generated awareness. There was an optimistic response to these videos and none of the videos examined encouraged suicide amongst adolescents. An additional review on the topic suggested that teenagers are increasingly utilising this platform to voice their thoughts and feelings surrounding suicide.  This article therefore brings to light a suggestion that if teenagers are approaching YouTube to learn more about the topic, it can be a great platform to initiate greater awareness and  help the struggle to reduce teenage depression and suicide.

 

Wisdom, J. P., Clarke, G. N., & Green, C. A. (2006). What Teens Want: Barriers to Seeking Care for Depression. Administration & Policy in Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research, 33(2), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-006-0036-4

 

Care for depressive teenagers is available yet not all teenagers receive this treatment. This article explores possible barriers preventing teenagers from receiving such remedies. The study found that depression was often viewed as a weakness by teenagers and talking about such a weakness openly was not considered to be a right choice. Judgementalness or lack of compassion and empathy also demotivated teens from sharing their feelings. The search for identity, commonly experienced during puberty and adolescence is a common barrier that makes adolescents question their emotions and experiences themselves rather than labelling them as medical concerns. Diagnosis and medication are also viewed as interruptions to their sense of independence and self-reliant demeanour. Behavior of clinical Another aspect that prevented teens from reaching out for care was the accountability to parents and possibility of conflict of interest, which only worsened when family conditions were relatively hostile. Lack of information and awareness were also amongst the possible causes preventing teens from receiving therapy for their issues. This article can act as a starting point to recognise barriers between depressed teens and the right treatment.

 

 

Singh, sup1], B. (2000). Suicide prevention strategies--an international perspective. International Review of Psychiatry, 12(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540260074058

This article analyses global trends and rates of suicide as well as explores possible preventive strategies. It takes up an international perspective to analyse the study of suicide beginning from Durkheim’s research in 1952 and extending to current statements by global institutions like United Nations and World Health Organisation. It also explores the development and progression of public health models to serve evolving populations. It examines suicide prevention strategies implemented on global and national scales, while making significant recommendations on strategies that can be applied to smaller and larger communities. This article is therefore a good reference to generate newer and better strategies based on past implementations.

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Until then....signing off!

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