“You’re just like your worthless father. You will never amount to anything and even with all the subjects that you have you will still come out to nothing. Your brother who hasn’t even graduated will have to take care of you.” Bella’s mom screamed at the young adult and she couldn’t fight back the tears that poured from her big brown eyes. I’m worthless she thought to herself and the thought of suicide seemed to give her comfort so she slit her wrist and lay down to die.
According to (APA, 2018), depression can be described as, “a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.” Depression has often had lasting effects on those who are affected and it is for this reason the topic was chosen. Anyone can suffer from depression but it is how a person deals with it is what matters; the effects on depression has risen in the young adults region. Depression is a real illness that causes severe pain to those that experience it, but with the bright side of it being able to be cured with lifestyle changes and medication. Some persons go through their lives without being depressed but some were not so lucky. Depression has had grim effects on those suffering from it causing suicidal tendencies, unhealthy eating habits and lack of stress management.
According to (MedicineNet, 1996-2018), suicide is, “the process of taking one’s own life.” The rise in suicidal tendencies in today’s population is a cause for immediate concern. The article goes on to say, “suicide is the second leading cause of death for people 15-29 years of age,” giving persons an insight into the main committers of suicide and those affected. This means that suicide is closely related to depression. Depression is known to cause suicidal tendencies as the person feels as though there is no way out of the situation. It is the ultimate form of withdrawal which adds more to depression that the person currently faces. Suicide is seen as a defense mechanism as the person sees this as a way to deal with their depressed state. According to a leading psychiatrist in Jamaica, (Hickling, 2017) “The country has one of the lowest incidents of suicide per 100,000 in the world with only 55 Jamaicans committing suicide in 2016.” Hickling, believes that the higher rate of suicide among males accounts for the way they are socialized. According to Hickling, "I think it has a lot to do with how males are socialized ... we kind of leave them on their own without a male figure in the home." It is clear that isolation is also a cause of suicidal tendencies. This means that individuals need to be connected especially if there is family history of suicide which increases risks of these tendencies. Suicidal tendencies are a cause for immediate concern with the causes being it being a defense mechanism, isolation and family history of suicide.
Additionally, unhealthy eating habits are another cause of depression. An article found by (Zeratsky, 2018), suggests that, “Several studies have found that people who ate a poor-quality diet — one that was high in processed meat, chocolates, sweet desserts, fried food, refined cereals and high-fat dairy products — were more likely to report symptoms of depression. The good news is that the people who ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fish were less likely to report being depressed.” This article highlights that eating the wrong types of food in large quantities can lead to depression. Binge eating, “is a severe, life-threatening, and treatable eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort)” (NEDA, 2018). This is one of the newest forms of depressive eating and many persons suffer from it. They feel as though this eating will help with their depression, but it in fact makes them feel worse. Bipolar disorder is often a cause of unhealthy eating habits as a person’s mood can change at any moment. This disorder causes mood change on the regular and young adults can easily start eating just to feel better and eventually leading to depression. They feel withdrawn and tend to keep to themselves constantly eating food that they think will suppress the feelings. Also certain things trigger a person’s depression. It could be anything from the loss of a family member, loss of a job, emotional abuse by a parent or anything that will change their mood. Unhealthy eating habits are often triggered by depressive thoughts and depressive behaviour caused by eating unhealthily.
Finally, lack of stress management will lead to depression as not many persons handle stress well. Stress management can be defined as, “is a process for controlling an individual’s level of stress. Stress management may include practicing daily meditation, identifying relaxing activities (which may be different for every individual), or a combination of multiple techniques.” (Sichel, 2016). Depression often makes coping with stress very hard as some individuals, namely young adults, cannot cope well with stress. This becomes even worse as persons do not take proper rest. The human body needs as much rest as it needs the workout in order to maintain a healthy mind. Rest is important as well as exercise and thus two or three days must be allotted for rest when working out. Proper rest in its accurate quantity is a good way to reduce stress just as though high stress levels reduce rest. One must learn to balance their lifestyle in order to have everything in its right quantities. Similarly a proper night’s rest can add to stress management and reduce it drastically. This limits procrastination and eliminates the need for depressive thoughts that tend to come when the person is alone. Exercise is also another good way of dealing with stress. It strengthens the mind and body which in turn makes it harder for the individual to break down because of stress and slip into depression. Exercise is an all natural treatment that helps greatly in the fight against depression and stress. Exercising allows to body to feel rejuvenated and free from oppression which are key factors to a depression free life. Although the deeper one becomes immersed in depression the harder it is to fight it. The best way to get out of the depressed zone is to start exercising. Taking a five minute walk gets the person out of the depressed zone and the more time the person takes to walk while listening some up beat music the less they will feel depressed thus eventually becoming free of depression. Lack of stress management can lead to depression but can be corrected with proper rest and exercise.
Overall, depression has greatly affected the lives of young persons making them feel as though they don’t matter in the world. One must therefore learn that there is another chance at a happy life no matter what they face. Depression is an illness that sucks aspects of your life but it can be cured. While depression has had grim effects on those suffering from it causing suicidal tendencies, unhealthy eating habits and lack of stress management, there is a brighter side to it. Anyone can beat depression by seeking the right assistance thus giving that person a chance to live a happy and depression free life.