Obviously a very serious subject and it’s good to see a discussion here that includes many reasons why teen depression, especially in girls, is so high. I could have and should have included safety. Safety in public and in schools. Kudos to those pointing that out.
As far as sex, girls are under pressure from many sides to consider sex more of a recreational activity rather than an emotional, loving, and enduring bond. Yet pressure from movies, magazines, the news, and the internet normalize hyper-sexualization. Couple that with abortion no longer being a solution for rare occasions, as Bill Clinton once hoped, and we’ve whittled away at reasons for sexual self-control, in direct conflict with what many believe is a self-wired need for monogamy.
Social media allow users to display an abundance of personal, curated information often designed to elevate one’s own outward appearance. But in bulk this distortion provides a constant bombardment of unrealistic expectations, especially for teens. No wonder severe depression or, at the very least, self-loathing is on the rise. Social media is a liar and the influenced spend hours each day absorbing those lies. For teens, this is occurring at the same time in their life as brains are rapidly developing and their footing in this world is being established.
Lost faith, lost moral compass, and lost God often equals lost hope. A JAMA Psychiatry study from 2020 found that women who attended regular church services were 68% less likely to die from “deaths of despair” such as those associated with suicide, alcohol poisoning and drug overdose. A little hope goes a long way.
Wrap all of this up in the coercive environment where we live, and it shouldn’t be surprising that teens’ self-respect is eroding and depression is on the rise.
Obviously a very serious subject and it’s good to see a discussion here that includes many reasons why teen depression, especially in girls, is so high. I could have and should have included safety. Safety in public and in schools. Kudos to those pointing that out.
As far as sex, girls are under pressure from many sides to consider sex more of a recreational activity rather than an emotional, loving, and enduring bond. Yet pressure from movies, magazines, the news, and the internet normalize hyper-sexualization. Couple that with abortion no longer being a solution for rare occasions, as Bill Clinton once hoped, and we’ve whittled away at reasons for sexual self-control, in direct conflict with what many believe is a self-wired need for monogamy.
Social media allow users to display an abundance of personal, curated information often designed to elevate one’s own outward appearance. But in bulk this distortion provides a constant bombardment of unrealistic expectations, especially for teens. No wonder severe depression or, at the very least, self-loathing is on the rise. Social media is a liar and the influenced spend hours each day absorbing those lies. For teens, this is occurring at the same time in their life as brains are rapidly developing and their footing in this world is being established.
Lost faith, lost moral compass, and lost God often equals lost hope. A JAMA Psychiatry study from 2020 found that women who attended regular church services were 68% less likely to die from “deaths of despair” such as those associated with suicide, alcohol poisoning and drug overdose. A little hope goes a long way.
Wrap all of this up in the coercive environment where we live, and it shouldn’t be surprising that teens’ self-respect is eroding and depression is on the rise.