Teenage Depression By Herma Silverstein Essay, Research Paper

I BIBLIOGRAPHY Silverstein, H. (1990). Teenage Depression. New York: Franklin Watts, 127 pg.s Herma Silverstein wrote Teenage Depression and it was pushlished in 1980 by FranklinWatts company. The book was copyrighted in 1990. The book contains 127 pages. II INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR Herma Silverstein has spent over ten years writing, teaching and lecturing aroundthe world . She alone authored eight books and numerous articles in magazines in theinterest of young readers such as Teen Guide to Single Parenting and Spies Among Us: The Truth About Modern Espionage. She also enjoys research, such as the informationcontained in this book. She enjoys writing fiction of all sorts. She keeps active lecturingand teaching and has been a panel participant for the international reading association anda lecturer in Southern California public schools. Ms. Silverstein live in California. III DESCRIPTION OF BOOK IN GENERAL TERMS Teenage Depression is a book that maybe used as a reference to Depression or justmere reading material. It is on a level that presents facts yet, a sixth grader can understandit complex definitions due to the way that everything is broken down. It is explained thatserious and prolonged depression brings feelings of sadness and hopelessness that justwont go away. Chances are you just might have a friend who has felt this way becausedepressive illness is more common than the average person may think. Depression andmanic depression attack one in every five women and, one in every ten males at least oncein their lives. An estimated six to seven percent of adolescents in the United States sufferfrom a depressive illness. An estimated 400,000 teenagers unsuccessfully attempt to endtheir own life each year and 5,000 of them succeed. According to Herma Silverstein whichcorresponds with our class text book, depression can be successfully treated. In TeenageDepression it is emphasized that the depression is often misunderstood and misdiagnosedfor other physiological medical problems however, genetic, environmental and otherfactors may lead to depression. Everything in this book has been taken from leadingmedical journals, research and one on one interviews with doctors and the mentally illpeople themselves. Herma feels this way is the only accurate way of doing such researchand writing a book such as this. Everything in this book also relates to our text howeverthis book takes one step deeper. The author tells you direct quotes from the depressedalong with their view on the whole disease. So, in no way is any of this information out-dated or unrealistic.IV RELATION TO TEXT Why live? Why Die? To keep living an empty life take patience from an emptyperson. These word came from the Diary of Vivienne: an adolescent who ended it all insuicide. This girl was only 14. She was well liked and bright and her death devastated andshocked her family and friends. For months this girl gave warning signals and she confidedthese thoughts to close friends but yet they were thought of as typical teenage moodswings until she was found dead. Another story speaks of a boy named Robert. He was also considered bright,attractive and well liked. He was the high school Quarterback and the vice-president of hissenior class. He maintained a B , average and had an excellent relationship with hisparents. He went steady with one the most prettiest and most popular girls in the school.He had also recently been accepted to the college of his choice. However, all wasn tpeachy as it seemed in Robert s life. This out going athletic star became a hermit . Therewere days when he didn t even leave his room for hours at a time. He virtually ignored hisgirlfriend, who he once adored. He no longer spoke with his parents without argumentsand his grades dropped below his B average for the first time in his life. Robert quitfootball and the once healthy minded kid gained over fifteen pounds while ever finishing ameal with the family anymore. Robert couldn t understand why he was always so sad. Hewas always totally bummed out. He recalled his friends being this way but they alwayssnapped out of it. He felt doomed. He usually cut school and lied in bed listening to sadmusic. He talked about life not being worth living and ending it all . Robert s parentspersuaded him to see their family doctor and when the doctor found no physical problemshe was directed to go to the psychiatrist. This man was the one who found Robert sproblem. He was suffering from a depressive illness which was treatable by counseling and

medication. A few months later, after following doctors orders, Robert returned the sonhis parents once knew. His life began to shape up. He occasionally fell into a down mood but it would last no more than a few weeksrather than go on for months like it once did. Within six months he totally returned tonormal. Within a year there was no trace of ever being depressed and he begin finishingthose college plans. Today Robert can t believe he actually wanted to kill himself. Vivienne and Robert are just two of the many stories in the book which started thesame and had two different outcomes. Depressive illness is a severe and sometimes adebilitating illness, it is unpredictable as to when or if at all the illness will return or evenwho it will strike. Although depression is a leading cause to suicide the recurrence is lessharsh and ends sooner. If the signs of depression are detected, someone s life can be savedby lending a hand and leading them in the right direction. In our text along with TeenageDepression you can learn the warning signs of this illness. The number one warning sign is a feeling of sadness and hopelessness. Depressedteens feel as though there s no end to the stress and sadness they always feel. The secondmost common symptom is moodiness. Depressed teenagers express alternate feelings ofangered sadness for weeks at a time. The third most common symptoms are eatingdisturbances. Depressed teenagers either eat to much or to little. They change from theircommon eating habits. The fourth major symptom is sleep disturbances. Nightmares arecommon along with difficulty falling asleep, or awakening early, due to stress andanxieties. The fifth major symptom is changes in social life. Depressed teenagers stopspending time with friends, they often even refuse phone calls. The sixth major symptom ischemical abuse. Depressed teens use drugs and alcohol to relieve depression. Those teensoften get hooked on drugs and alcohol. Instead of getting a relief from the pressure theteens feels worse. Alcohol and drugs are depressants and not mood elevators. The seventhmajor sign is the loss of interest in pleasurable activities. These teens find no pleasure inactivities they once enjoyed such as going movies or concerts, watching TV, participatingin sports and even sex. The eighth major symptom is suicidal thoughts. These teens maybecome what we refer to as morbid or become obsessed with death and some actuallykill them selves.V EVALUATION By reading Teenage Depression the average person will be able to understand insimple terms the symptom of depression , and how to distinguish between the blues. A common teenage experience that can seem to be depression or more serious long termdepression. I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed tothe whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth . . . – Abraham Lincoln Melancholy is the curse of frenzy -William Shakespeare From Abraham Lincoln to William Shakespeare depression has plagued the earthsince the beginning of time. Depression is never prejudice to whom it strikes young, old,famous, unknown, rich middle-class or, homeless. Some other well known people whohave suffered with depression are the Bible s King Saul, Queen Elizabeth I, EarnestHemingway, Betty Ford, and the Late prime minister Winston Churchill. He calleddepression the black dog that shadowed my life. Now it is time for us as a society to become educated and active in the war againstdepression. If untreated the sadness of depressive illness grows so strong that people feelhelpless and hopeless, as if their world has caved in on them, and there is nothing they oranyone else can do to get them out of the rut, and be able to feel happy again. The trulydepressed feel as things only get worse and never better. This is where suicide comes in.They feels as though they should end it all. Whether in a child, a teenager, a adult, or a senior citizen, true depressive illness isdifferent than feeling sadness or loneliness after a traumatic moment, event, or change inlife. Such as a death of a Parent, Spouse, relative or friend. Even a parents divorce orbreaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend. Underneath the sadness lies a feeling ofemptiness that will eventually go away and life will get happier. The book shows how tragic depression may end and how it can be cured ifcaught. Teenage Depression tells you in detail what to detect as being seriously depressedand how to possibly save your best friend from suicide. Teenage Depression also answerscommonly asked questions about depression and contains a complete glossary and a list ofhot lines and associations that provide counseling and support.

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