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Morgan Riestenberg

Prof. Johnson

English 1102-K01

23 March 2021

Teenage Depression

 A study shows that teenage girls are more vulnerable to depression with a ratio of 2:1

(Stein). Why do teenage girls have a higher rate of depression? Can we lower the rates

of depression? If people can figure out the major causes of depression, there might be ways to

help lower the rates. Teenage depression can be caused by many things, but some major factors

are low self-esteem, parental issues, and having other mental illnesses.  

I am interested in this topic because my best friend has depression. We have been friends

since the fourth grade. In high school, I started noticing some changes in her personality. Her

sleep schedule started to become really messed up and she seemed disinterested in things she

used to enjoy.  I didn’t understand why her personality was changing.  One day she told me that

a doctor had prescribed her medicine for depression. 

This did not come as a big surprise for me. She is in an unsupportive household with a

dysfunctional family system. She also had a lot of stress from school and she also has low self-

esteem. There may have been other causes that I either did not know about or overlooked. 

I wanted to learn more about it and how to help her.  I also wanted to know if there was

any way to help prevent depression in others. The best way I could think to do this was find the
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major factors that contribute to depression. It is also important to understand what depression is

and how it can affect people's lives.

One of the oldest medical conditions is depression. It can be found as far back as the fifth

century B.C when the physician Hippocrates described many of the symptoms of depression

(Parks). Depression isn’t a new illness, it has been around for centuries. Some of the first

symptoms of depression were described as sleeplessness, irritably, diminished appetite, sadness,

and restlessness. (Parks). These symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of depression today,

but with more research many more symptoms have been found. 

Depression is an issue that affects teenagers, adults, and children. Depression has many

symptoms such as a lasting feeling of sadness, sleeping problems, and changes in appetite.

However, the most common symptom is losing interest in things you used to enjoy and not

knowing why. Many teens with depression can go undiagnosed or untreated. Parents do not

notice changes in their teen’s behavior, or they just chalk it up to being a teenager. 

There are many causes of depression. Many of the causes are not preventable and some

are hard to detect. The causes can include, stress, low self-esteem, and a chemical imbalance in

the brain. There are more causes that will be listed and explained later.  

We know that depression has been around for a while but many people aren’t getting

treatment. There is a stigma around mental health issues, that make people afraid to admit they

have a mental issue and get the treatment they need. Treatment for depressive episodes hasn’t

increased a lot over these past years (Buchholz). This is important because this isn’t a new

illness, but the majority of people are still going untreated. The graph below shows the number

of people who experienced a depressive episode and how many received treatment (Buchholz
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and Felix).
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Depression is influenced by the gene SERT which helps tell the body how to use

serotonin (Parks). Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that controls many of the body’s functions.

Some of those functions are sleep, memory, appetite, and mood. There are different types of

Depression. One type is Seasonal Depression. Seasonal depression is caused when the brain

produces less serotonin, because of a lack of sunlight. People who feel depressed in the winter

when there is less sunlight, have Seasonal Depression. Alterations in the way these functions

present themselves are also symptoms of depression.  

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Low self-esteem is a major factor in teenage depression. There is a connection between

lower self-esteem and depression. “Depressive symptoms and self-criticism both increased over

time, while self-esteem dropped. It was further found that depressive symptoms at baseline

predicted self-esteem at the one-year mark” (PsyPost). This shows that as adolescence’s self-

esteem lowers, their symptoms of depression increase.

The above cause of depression could be lowered with time and effort. Parents, teachers,

and friends can make an effort to help a teen with low self-esteem improve that self-esteem.

Teens and adults can also work on being more body positive without pressuring people to look

like the models and celebrities that they see on television and magazines. In the study from

PsyPost, they took a look at kids who had an average age of 12. They studied their symptoms of

depression and their self-esteem at three different times around a year apart. At the start, both

symptoms and self-esteem were comparable. The next year the girl’s symptoms raised a lot and

their self-esteem dropped a bunch. The age of 12 is about when teens enter middle school.

Changes that occur during this time, such as stricter dress codes and the start of puberty can

impact a teen’s self-esteem.

Hormones play a role in depression. The hormonal changes that occur during puberty

likely increase the development of depression, but it is still unclear how or why this happens

(Parks). If a teenager is already experiencing other causes of depression, then these hormonal

changes can increase the level of depression teens experience. There isn’t much we can do about

lowering the amount hormone changes affect teens, but we can be aware of it. Knowing that this

happens can teach others more about the rise in number of teens with depression. Raising

awareness about depression and changing the stigma around mental illness can help more people

get diagnosed, and can even help them to get the treatment they need.        
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Other mental illnesses can have a big impact on depression. Depression in teens often co-

occurs with anxiety, and eating disorders (National Institute of Mental Health). These mental

illnesses tend to occur together because they have similar causes and symptoms.  This can lead to

the teen being misdiagnosed. It is uncommon for that to happen, but it is still possible.

Misdiagnosis can affect how long it takes to get the correct treatment. When someone is given an

incorrect diagnosis, it is almost impossible to get the correct treatment. The treatment given will

be to help with the incorrect diagnosis and not with the actual problem. This can be problematic

for the few it affects.

Parental issues also play a major role in depression. The roles parents can play in

depression do vary a lot. One role a parent can play is in their genetic code. People who have a

relative with depression are three times more likely to have depression (Parks). It isn’t possible

for someone to control their genes, so even if it seems as if a teen has no reason to be depressed,

they could be because of their genetic makeup. This is something that can not be controlled

or stopped. Nobody can choose their hair color, or eye color any more than they can control the

genetic factors of depression. Genetics play a huge role in the likelihood of a teenager

developing depression, but it isn’t the only role a parent can play. 

Parental loss is another factor that can play a role in depression. Losing a loved one is

hard on everyone, but it is harder on a child or teenager who depends on their parents. Losing a

parent before a child starts school has been linked to a higher rate of hospitalization for

depression (Berg). Children losing someone that they depend on and not knowing how to deal

with the loss can cause further problems. This could be traumatic especially if the parent

experienced a traumatic death. Children witnessing a parental death can cause a lot of trauma for

a child. Expecting children and teens to just get over it isn’t fair to them, as many adults need
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help processing loss. Children and teens aren’t as far along developmentally as adults, so if

adults struggle to process it, children will struggle more. 

Parents being unsupportive can also lead to depression. Being a part of the LGBTQ+

community in a household or environment that is unsupportive is a huge risk factor for

depression (Mayo Clinic). These kids are trapped in a place filled with people who don’t support

them or make them feel worse about themselves. There isn’t help for them through the tough

time that coming out can create. Leaving them feeling alone or unwanted. These feelings can

increase depression symptoms. 

Disruptions to family structure can play a role in depression. “We found that only 11% of

children came from intact families living with biological parents, while 89% had some kind of

disruption in their family structure” (Behere). This study found that most children coming to a

behavior health center came from homes with a dysfunctional family or something similar. There

were more emotional and behavioral problems in teens who came from a family that had a

divorce compared to other disruptions (Behere). The separation of two parents can really have a

huge effect on their children and their mental health. The graph below shows the relationship

between the percent of children that were emitted into the behavior center and their family

structure (Behere). 
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Different types of family structure have different effects on depression. From the study

above, forty-four percent of the children came from single parent or divorced parents and

fourteen percent came from a blended family with a stepmother or stepfather (Behere).  This

shows that divorce or only having one parent can affect the mental health of a child a lot. 

Dysfunctional families can increase a teens feelings of being trapped or the feeling that

they are the cause of problems their parents have. Having a dysfunctional family can increase the

risk of a teenager developing depression (Mayo Clinic). Feeling trapped or being stuck in the

middle of a dysfunctional family can slowly increase the levels of depression. Some teens who

are stuck in a dysfunctional family can feel like they are the cause of all the problems. They may
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want to get out but they don’t know how to or they have nowhere else to go. They also just want

the fighting to stop. This can put a lot of stress on a teenager, which can then also lead to

depression. You can help prevent or fix this situation by asking your teen questions and making

sure they are comfortable. 

Stress plays another large role in causing depression. A teenager felt stress overload until

it became overwhelming and changed his personality (Parks). Stress can build up and push a

teenager to the edge, and even change their personality. Stress can come from school, family,

work and friends. A teenager can also put a lot of stress on themselves. The teen tries to do too

much and gets overwhelmed. Teens can also push a big project or assignment off so they can

focus on other work. Then they are stressed trying to get it done at the last minute.  Schools load

students with lots of homework, and a teenager’s job can take time away from getting the school

work done or studying for tests.

 Families and friends can also put a lot of stress on a teen. Families can put teens in the

middle of parent’s arguments or push them to add way more work than they can handle onto

their plates. An example of this is adding a job or taking a class that the student knows will just

add more stress than it is worth. This mixed with any other possible causes can influence

depression, or just flip their whole life.

There are ways to help lower the symptoms of depression. Students who were involved in

more extracurricular activities, like playing a musical instrument or playing on a sports team,

have lower depression symptoms (Runcan). These activities can help teens to relieve stress and

make friends but these activities can also add more stress if teens push off school work. These

two things can’t fully stop depression but could help lower the impact it has on teenagers.
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Trauma is another factor that can affect teenage depression. Almost two thirds of the

children in the study conducted at Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health Center had been exposed to

some type of abuse (Behere). Abuse can lead to long lasting trauma. Early childhood trauma may

cause changes in the brain that make someone more likely to experience depression (Mayo

Clinic). Physical abuse causes low self-esteem. The person being abused feels like they are doing

something wrong and deserve the abuse. Not all abuse is physical. Emotional abuse also has an

effect on children. Emotional abuse is harder to detect and can go on for a long period of time.

The longer it goes on, the lower someone’s self-esteem can go. This shows that trauma and abuse

have long lasting effects on a child.

Depression doesn’t just have one set cause. There are a variety of things that cause

depression. Most of the time it is multiple potential causes working together that ends up causing

depression for a teen. A parent or another person can work hard on reducing the risks or causes

of depression that a child could be exposed to, but there are so many different factors that it is

almost impossible to keep someone from experiencing at least one of the different causes. Some

of the causes are just unpredictable, or downright unavoidable. For example, the loss of a parent

isn’t something that people can predict. Just because someone has experienced one of the many

factors, doesn’t mean that they will have or have depression.

Some people may think that bullying is the major cause of depression. Bullying does

affect teens and can lead to depression. However, bullying also affects teens self-esteem which is

a bigger cause of depression. Other causes have more of an effect than bullying or have more of

an impact. This is why bullying isn’t included in the major causes of depression.
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In order to lower the rates of teenage depression, people can try and support teens and

take some stress off of them whenever possible. Parents should also pay attention to their teens

behavior and get them help if they are showing signs of depression. Teenagers might also come

to you because they think they might have depression. They know more about how they are

feeling than their parents. It would be a good idea to listen or at least talk to them about it.  

Another way to prevent depression could be to work on determining how hormonal

changes impact depression. Since little is known about how this contributes to depression finding

more information on it might reveal a way to prevent or understand more about depression in

teens. 

There are many factors that contribute to depression. There isn’t just one exact cause that

is able to be pinpointed. Teenage depression can be caused by many things, but some major

factors are low self-esteem, parental issues, and having other mental illnesses. Girls tend to have

higher rates of depression because they tend to have lower self-esteem. Depression rates are

climbing because more stress is being put on children earlier in life. 

    
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Work Cited

Behere, Aniruddh Prakash, et al. “Effects of Family Structure on Mental Health of Children: A  

Preliminary Study.” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, Medknow Publications &

Media Pvt Ltd, 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5559994/. Accessed 6

April 2021

Berg, Lisa, et al. “Parental Death during Childhood and Depression in Young Adults - a National

Cohort Study.” Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, vol. 57, no. 9, Sept. 2016, pp.

1092–1098. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jcpp.12560. Accessed 7 March 2021

Buchholz, Katharina, and Felix Richter. “Infographic: More U.S. Teenagers Are Experiencing

Depression.” Statista Infographics, 21 Nov. 2019, www.statista.com/chart/20052/share

of-us-teenagers-experiencing-depressive episodes-and-receiving-treatment/. Accessed

25 March 2021

“Longitudinal Study Sheds Light on the Complicated Relationship between Self-Esteem and  

Depression in Early Adolescence.” PsyPost, 22 Feb. 2021,    

www.psypost.org/2021/02/longitudinal-study-sheds-light-on-the-complicated-  

relationship-between-self-esteem-and-depression-in-early-adolescence-59748.

Accessed 7 March 2021

M;, Stein K;Fazel. “Depression in Young People Often Goes Undetected.” The    Practitioner, 

U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27254891/.  Accessed 25 March

2021   
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National Institute of Mental Health. Depression, New York State Office of Mental Health, 2018,

omh.ny.gov/omhweb/booklets/depression.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3WkyxgFpxdRLKJTcgJ7sk6-

wvZ7UT4d9qrsRv-HXbvMUQ7YbDGc7BYE6M. Accessed 7 March 2021

Parks, Peggy J. Teen Depression. Lucent Books, 2013. Accessed 7 March 2021

Runcan, Patricia. “Depression in Adolescence: A Review of Literature.” Social Work Review 

/Revista de Asistenta Sociala, no. 2, Apr. 2020, pp. 100–110. EBSCOhost,  

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e5h&AN=145503764&site=eds-live.

Accessed 7 March 2021

“Teen Depression.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 16

Nov. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/teen-depression/symptoms

causes/syc-20350985#:~:text=Many factors increase the risk,as physical or sexual abuse.

Accessed 7 March 2021