During the day, people laugh heartily, but at night they feel life is not worth living. More and more people are saying they are depressed. Indeed, as the internet has developed in recent years, a growing number of people have come to understand “depression.” However, many others are just following trends and making jokes, leaving those who genuinely suffer from depression in silence.
Especially among younger individuals, it seems there is no right to express their unhappiness. When they mention feeling somewhat depressed to family or friends, parents often respond, “At your young age, how can you be unhappy? Is it because you have too little homework or too much pocket money that you feel this way?”
The news of a 13-year-old girl committing suicide and falling from a building is still fresh in our minds. Every day, there are students who withdraw from school for reasons such as “extreme aversion to studying” or “mental illnesses.”
It has been proven that depression is becoming increasingly common among younger age groups. In 2020, the “China National Mental Health Development Report” indicated that the depression detection rate among Chinese adolescents is 24.6%, with a severe depression detection rate of 7.4%. This means that roughly 1 in 5 individuals may have depressive tendencies.
Why is depression becoming more prevalent among younger people?
From a personal perspective, adolescents are going through puberty, experiencing significant changes in hormonal levels, which can lead to emotional disturbances. Adolescents often exhibit characteristics of high self-esteem, high vulnerability, and high sensitivity.
However, at this stage, they lack sufficient cognitive and critical thinking abilities and have a lower capacity to cope with external pressures, making them more susceptible to psychological issues.
From an external influence perspective, the pressures adolescents encounter in life and learning are not less than those faced by adults. They face similar pressures regarding academics, friendships, and everyday life. Over time, the accumulation of various pressures can lead to depression.
To prevent depression among adolescents, parents need to show more concern for their children.
Often, it is not the children who are anxious, but the parents, who frequently pass on this anxious sentiment to their children.
Currently, many children are only children in their families, and naturally bear the expectation of various responsibilities.
Parents always hope their children achieve good grades and have noticeable strengths. It is perfectly normal for parents to wish their children to excel, but this can bring significant pressure to the child. It is best for parents to arrange appropriate extracurricular activities and learning courses for their children that fall within their psychological capacity to bear.
Additionally, some parents are overly busy and lack sufficient companionship with their children, diminishing the quality time spent playing and interacting with them. This can negatively impact the child’s mental health.
Parents should communicate with their children more and show them sufficient love to genuinely enter their inner world and help them channel negative emotions.
To prevent depression among adolescents, schools need corresponding psychological courses.
As the place where children spend the most time outside of home, the people and events within schools can significantly influence children.
As educators, teachers should understand the psychological and personality traits of their students better and be flexible in their teaching approaches to provide appropriate support to their students.
As school administrators, they should arrange appropriate mental health courses in schools. Although many schools have set up psychological courses, they often lack substance; most students might not even be aware that there are so-called psychological teachers.
Moreover, many schools may not have such job positions set up at all, or they may employ part-time individuals with inadequate professional competence, which could cause adolescents to miss the best opportunity for prevention.
Establishing the corresponding courses would greatly help adolescents in properly addressing mental health issues and raising their awareness of seeking help.
