Research Log #7 - Solutionary Project 2020 (Peer Viewed Journal)

 
Date: 19 March 2020
Name: Micah Watanabe
Essential Question: How does depression affect society?
 
Three Points to Prove: #1: Depression reduces productivity in student’s classes.
                                     #2: Depression encourages substance abuse in students.
#3: Depression affects their relationships with other students and teachers.
 
Point that this Source Proves: #2 Depression encourages substance abuse in students
 
 
Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove): 

Conner, Pinquart, and Gamble go into detail on the connection between depression and alcohol,
“The pharmacologic effects of alcohol may produce symptoms of depression more or less
directly during periods of intoxication and/or withdrawal.”

They talk about studies they conducted to prove that substance abuse is generated during
depression, “, and according to the BESD, 60.5% of persons with above-average levels of
depressive symptoms show above-average levels of current alcohol use and impairment, as
compared to 39.5% of persons with below-average levels of depressive symptoms.”

Wrapping up the journal, they talk about the long term effects of the substance abuse, “…the first
time of measurement predicted higher levels of alcohol-related impairment at the follow-up, and
a stronger increase of alcohol use and impairment over time.”

  
Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?): 
 
Students nowadays believe that they are alone in their depressive state, so they choose to
deny their problems. Trying to find a way out, thinking that drugs are the solution. They think
this temporary feeling of a high will last forever and that their problems will go away. The 3
doctors contradict this by saying, “The pharmacologic effects of alcohol may produce symptoms
of depression more or less directly during periods of intoxication and/or withdrawal.” This
basically talks about the ineffectiveness of alcohol as a solution, and it could possibly make the
depressive episode even worse.
Not only does substance abuse make their depression worse in the long run, but it also
impairs their abilities. As said in the second quote, “, 60.5% of persons with above-average
levels of depressive symptoms show above-average levels of current alcohol use and
impairment.” Proving that alcohol and depression go hand in hand, making the persons motor
skills worse, and deepening their depression. This also relates to the first point to prove, alcohol
abuse will also reduce the student’s ability to thrive academically. Vaping and other drugs may
impair the student’s just as or more than alcohol since it also releases chemicals like serotonin
which make them feel good for an amount of time but feeling worse after.
 Majority of this analysis talks about the short term “right now” effects that occur with
alcohol abuse. Long term however is worse, your reliance on this temporary out increases,
making the times when you’re without feel like a mid-life crisis. Conner, Pinquart, and Gamble
acknowledge this by stating, “…the first time of measurement predicted higher levels of alcohol-
related impairment at the follow-up, and a stronger increase of alcohol use and impairment over
time.” This shows that long term, the impairment that the alcohol protrudes will worsen, making
it harder to bounce back fully, and also affecting their academic life even more. Substance abuse
in teens need to be taken more seriously because of the potential back lash that might occur later
in their lives.

Work Cited (correct MLA format): 

Conner, Kenneth R, et al. “Meta-Analysis of Depression and Substance Use among Individuals
with Alcohol Use Disorders.” Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, U.S. National
Library of Medicine, Sept. 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4864601/.

This is a reputable and reliable article because it is written by a reliable institute, and peer viewed by
doctors that have their PHD.
Journal on next page
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Journal 7
 
         As a group, we collaboratively created the idea to help temporarily reduce student’s stress

and hopefully depression. We want to post funny memes that are popular between teens among

the country that many of our classmates find humorous. IF the student laughs, serotonin will be

released into the brain calming and improving their mood. We are still debating whether to create

a scavenger hunt with food at the end of the tunnel by having QR codes to scan that gives a hint

to the next meme. So far, we have created both a written proposal and proposal video. The

written proposal highlights what we hope to accomplish with our project and how we aim to get

there. Since stress has become more and more common within schools especially, our idea to

post memes around school is aimed around making students laugh. In our video, we talked about

how common depression has become in our society and how we plan to combat it with laughter

within our school. 

         Individually (Micah), I helped with the overall idea of the meme around school. I came

up with the idea since I was a former victim of depression, so I wanted to help others that are

going through what I went through. I am still debating whether to create a scavenger hunt in

addition to the meme, but as a group we are still debating. I also helped on the proposal by

coming up with the title to our project, and with the central solutionary idea which was number
1. The group and I are still trying to find school appropriate memes that will make people laugh

and reduce anxiety. This is difficult because many things today are considered offensive so we

might have to run it through Mr. Madriaga to be sure it is school appropriate. As a single person,

I haven’t done much other than the research log alone. As a group we have collaboratively

bounce ideas off of each other to be sure this project is the best it can be. We are still finding

locations to put the memes up around the school. Lastly, I have done research log 1 on

depression in students, finished research log 2, research log 3, research log 4, research log 5 and

just finished research log 6. I worked on my outline for my solutionary project outline, and just

finished my research log 7 which was a peer viewed journal. Additionally, our group just

conducted our first interview, and are thinking of ideas for our community service.