Growing Depression Among Youth and Why You Should Take It Seriously

By : Tirna Mahajan | : 25 August, 2020
Growing Depression Among Youth and Why You Should Take It Seriously

Growing of Depression Among Youth and Why Should Take It Seriously

The emergence of every new era is inevitably followed by a new lifestyle and behavioral changes. The common issues faced by elder dwellers are often replaced by newer problems, creating a gap between the predecessors and the successors of mankind. The same holds true in the twenty-first century, where we, the millennials and generation Z are facing far complex emotional turbulences than our parents did. One such highly recurrent, yet the commonly overlooked psychological issue is mental depression.

How to spot someone in the crowd who is suffering from mental depression?

Such is the subtleness of the mental depression that it can fool or deceive the best of eyes. I’ve personally witnessed some of the most charming and lively people who appear as bright as a Christmas tree, but deep down, they are emotionally sunk into the darkness of depression. Chester Bennington, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Rajesh Khanna, Parveen Bobby, the list goes on. And the main reason why the unfortunates don’t reveal the mental agony they are going through- is us. Uncomfortable as it may sound, however, our society still needs to progress a lot when it comes to accepting depression and other similar miseries. Blaming the affected mentally depressed person to be weak for not being able to handle life, and viewing depression synonymous to mental illness is an example of the derogatory viewpoint of the society and is severely compelling the affected unfortunates to up a façade as if they are alright, while they are emotionally dead.

What exactly triggers mental depression?

The complexity of this mental trauma is so deep that even now the exact root for this cause has not yet been discovered. Also, owing to the diverse conditions that instigate the seed of depression, it is quite difficult to pinpoint one single root cause for this massive widespread misery which our generation is facing. Doubtless, there are a multitude of factors that operate on the affected person, starting from birth to home to society to school, college to university to the workplace. However, with recent studies and analysis, the primary causes of depression can be narrowed down to four factors:

1) Past event,

2) Genetics,

3) Substance abuse

4) Illness

Each factor can stimulate severe trauma with varying degrees of complicacy and intensity. Also, since the origins of the depression can be catalyzed by events that occurred way back in the past, it becomes increasingly difficult even for experts to track down the beginning of the cause. In such cases, it is even very difficult to cure the depression right of its root itself. It has been a common trait to witness traits of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among people suffering from depression as well.

Tragic past

The younger the mind of a child is, the more delicate intact it remains; untarnished, unharmed by the brutal affairs of the reality around it. As the very primary habits and experience stay engraved in the mind of every infant, hence imagine the outcome if a child witnesses a severe beating right in front of its eyes, or people mocking and humiliating him or her for any trivial issue whatsoever. Just like a good memory in our childhood instills a feeling of joy in us, a tragic and dark memory haunts in our past haunts us well into our adulthood. So, the cause for depression is very difficult to be nullified (imagine trying to cure an ailment that occurred on your body about twenty-five years ago and has been infecting you ever since).


Often it so happens that the person had been fortunate enough to not go through the misfortune of the aforementioned past; howsoever, fate as it seems, the trait of depression could have run the family, which in turn, can trigger a subtle trait of anxiety and depression. Genetics often plays a major role in determining how an individual can be prone to emotional misery. Furthermore, as the issue of depression was not taken seriously in the earlier days, hence even if instances of depression were present in a family, they would have been overlooked, and the same is applicable for newer members of the family as well.

Substance Abuse

Alcohol or other narcotics seem to be a medium for a temporary escape from all the worries of the world and depression. However, without the knowledge to the user, once an addict gets a taste of the recreational effects that he or she can experience by substance abuse, every single minute when they do not taste it or are away from such psychoactive substance, seems like a living hell, and pushes them completely into a pitch-black emotional turmoil. As a result, being sober seems to become far from possible, as the affected individual now solely relies on narcotics to escape his phases of sorrow and depression, which has now become chronic, thanks to substance addiction.


Imagine watching your friends and colleagues having the fun of their life by going out and enjoying, while you are confined to your bed, relying on medication for being sick...If the mere thought of the scenario by reading the above lines makes you unhappy, imagine how the ones who are truly forced to remain in their home for their illness, go through on a daily basis. It makes the unfortunate have a bad temperament, getting angry at trivial issues, and at times, growing envious of everyone around him or her. The aforementioned factors are more than enough to push any healthy and jolly individual into emotional depression.

Is there a possible cure to depression at the end of the dark tunnel?

Interestingly, yes and no. In a nutshell, therapy for depression is a two-way process. Just as the therapist needs to be very thorough with the affected individual, and create a customized plan for him/her, also the affected person needs to follow through the instructions of the therapist. Only by then, with proper medication, lifestyle changes, along with psychotherapy, depression can be gradually minimized, until a point, when the individual is able to emerge out of his or her trauma and can breathe the air of happiness and freedom from the pain he or she had been facing. No work is said to be impossible for mankind, which holds true for curing any ailment as well. However, not only the therapist but even we the people of the society, hold a responsibility to make sure no person shall need to hide their depression and pretend to be unaffected. Empathy and support can often work wonders and is the cure that the sufferers truly desire. Hence, society must now embrace the unfortunates with welcoming hugs and must cooperate with them, to make sure that no depressed should think that they are left alone or isolated. We have to keep in mind that at the beginning of human history, our ancestors all belonged to the same family.

About the author:

Tirna Mahajan
Tirna Mahajan
Editorial Assistant
Tirna has successfully completed her M. Sc in Pure Statistics with a specialization...