Factors that make a Teenager Vulnerable to Depression
Factors that make an adolescent vulnerable to depression or otherwise referred to as risk factors are present within a teen’s environment. These factors create interplay that when an adolescent is not able to cope up with, will lead to depression. Here are some of the risk factors that make an adolescent vulnerable to depression.
Family History of Depression
When you have a family member who had suffered or is suffering from depression, then this makes you a likely candidate to suffer from this same disorder as well. You may have inherited the same genes that are interconnected to depression. Chemical imbalances in the brain related to depression may also be passed on to you. However, this genetic predisposition does not affect everyone in the family. But it does make it a risk factor for you.
What you see within your home influences how you grow up. When you have been living with a person who has been suffering from depression, then you might also have a pessimistic attitude, and your coping mechanisms are not effective in dealing with life stressors. You might also deal with stress the way your family member has been doing.
Environment
Theorists say that the environment plays a large part in the development of a person. When you grow up in a household wherein you feel loved and secured, all your needs are being provided for, then you will develop a personality that exudes optimism and positive outlooks in life. Your self-esteem will be fully developed, and you will be a person who strives for what you believe in. you are likely to be successful in life, for you know how to handle complicated life situations.
On the other hand, when you grow up in an abusive and poor environment, then you will grow up to be the opposite of what was portrayed above. Your outlooks in life are almost always negative, your self-esteem is very low and you deal with things pessimistically. These factors often predispose a person to succumb in depression.
Stressors
Stressors are parts of our daily lives. These can include school matters, family problems, financial problems, relationship matters, medical illnesses, and a lot more. There are two types of stress – eustress and distress. Eustress is a positive way of reacting to stressors. Distress, on the other hand is a negative way. This is when a person gets sick, become depressed, turn into substance abuse, so that they can deal with the present stressor.
Coping mechanisms are what we use to deal with stressors. These would vary for each individual. Positive coping mechanisms, such as confronting the problem at hand, looking for realistic solutions to deal with the problem, seeking out for the help of other individuals, etc., would lead to a resolved stressor. Meanwhile, negative coping mechanisms are temporarily forgetting the stressor, drinking too much alcohol, and others. These negative coping mechanisms can predispose you to become depressed.
These are but some of the many risk factors that can make an adolescent vulnerable to depression. However, these are the top most reasons why a person can have depression.
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