Depression
Children, adolescents, adults, and older people can suffer from depression, but associated symptoms can differ. Depression in children is less prevalent than in adolescents, but they still can display depressive feelings and anxiety, as well as unexplained pain and irritability. Symptoms of depression in adolescents include changes in mood, sleep disturbances, irritability, and thoughts of suicide. Adults can demonstrate anxiety, insomnia, the development of phobias and panic disorders, as well as physiological problems like diarrhea.
Older adults can have depression as a result of their diseases and pain, and expressions of depression differ from symptoms typical of other ages: somatic complaints, long-lasting pain, fatigue, and problems with sleep (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). Since the symptoms and signs of depression vary for individuals of different ages, it is possible to state that age can influence the course and treatment of depression.
The process of diagnosing depression in children can be problematic as well as the choice of an appropriate treatment plan. Adolescents often have problems with accepting the fact that they have depression, and they can avoid treatment based on therapy. Furthermore, the number of drugs approved to treat depression in children and adolescents is also limited (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). Besides, in older people, it is rather difficult to diagnose depression, and treatment requires monitoring of professionals.
Suicide and Depression
Depression can provoke thoughts of suicide in many people because of changes in perceiving their life situation. Among those individuals who commit suicide, up to ninety percent of people suffer from depression and similar mental disorders. Thus, there is a direct positive correlation between depression and suicide rates. Although suicidal thoughts and attempts are typical of adolescents, the number of actual suicides is the highest for adult individuals.
Furthermore, it is also important to distinguish between the number of attempts and the number of actual suicides. Thus, women experiencing depression have thoughts of suicide more often than men, and numerous tries are typical of females (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). However, even if the percentage of women attempting suicide is higher in comparison to the percentage of men, more males successfully commit suicide.
Still, although the rate of committed suicides in adolescents is lower than it is in adults, these young individuals are inclined to attempt suicide rather frequently in comparison to other age groups. In 13 Reasons Why by Netflix, it is possible to pay attention to the warning signs of depression that may potentially lead to suicide. They include adolescents’ isolation, hopelessness, the loss of interest in activities and people, irritability, and changes in mood and appearance.
Furthermore, 13 Reasons Why demonstrates that bullying can be addressed and prevented if it is not supported and promoted among adolescents (Netflix, 2019). Almost every person involved in bullying the main female character in the series could not oppose the pressure of the youth’s community, and there was no control from adults.
Concluding about depression and suicidal thoughts in adolescents and referring to 13 Reasons Why it is possible to state that this TV show can change adults’ vision of the problem of bullying and harassment at school. The reason is that cruel cases of bullying leading to adolescents’ depression can be ignored and discussed as insignificant when adults do not want to take action. Still, bullying can be observed almost in any students community, leading to depressive states and suicide.
Despite its provocativeness, the series contributes to the greater awareness of adolescents’ issues because it demonstrates the realities of young people’s lives that can be unrecognized by adults. Thus, the discussion of depression in different age groups and the focus on adolescents’ cases are important to affect the work of a healthcare practitioner.
References
Netflix. (2019). 13 reasons why. Web.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2018). Life-span human development (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.