Doctoral Project Continuous Editing

Depression among the Millennials

Laura Kay Utgard

California Southern University

PSY: 87991 Doctoral Project One

December 2018

Statement of the Problem

The United States government is dealing with a problem of escalating mental health costs because of an increase in reported mental health illnesses (Ferri-Reed, 2013). Depression has always been present in human beings, but the levels today are higher than in previous years (Ferri-Reed, 2013). One of the key generations experiencing depression is Millennials (Odenweller et al. 2014). Millennials are driven to be successful , and failure to do so may lead to social isolation . Isolation leads to depression adding to the cost of this generation’s mental healthcare (Odenweller et al., 2014).

Millennials, due to unfulfilled dreams and ambitions tend to spend more and more time on social media or watching movies (Stein, 2013). Lack of contact with family and friends enhances the feeling that one is alone in the misery. High suicide rates are witnessed among Millennials compared to the previous generations . The high rates of suicide and the costs of treating depression are of interest to several stakeholders from government policymakers to psychology professionals (Stein, 2013). The government and other players in the health sector are burdened with an increased cost on mental health issues (Odenweller, Booth-Butterfield, & Weber, 2014).

Millennials are in a stage where they need to be recognized, appreciated, and at the same time, the success of their counterparts has effects on them. When they lack recognition and appreciation from members of society, the sense of belonging depreciates, and it increases stress(Ferri-Reed, 2013). Stress is a catalyst of depression, and that means that millennials are automatically exposed to risks of being depressed(Ferri-Reed, 2013). Depression among millennials has proven to be both internally and externally motivated. Internal motivation comes from the thoughts and expectations of millennials while external motivation comes from the comparison of people who have managed to be successful in life (Ferri-Reed, 2013).

References

Eagan, K., Stolzenberg, E., Ramirez, J., Aragon, M., Suchard, M., & Rios-Aguilar. (2016). The American Freshman: Fifty-Year Trends, 1966-2015. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA. Retrieved December 13, 2018 (https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/50YearTrendsMonograph2016.pdf).

Ferri-Reed, J. (2013). Millennial-generation" screwed" or generation" shrewd?". The Journal for Quality and Participation, 36(1), 22.

Odenweller, K. G., Booth-Butterfield, M., & Weber, K. (2014). Investigating helicopter paren ing, family environments, and relational outcomes for Millennials. Communication Studies, 65(4), 407-425.

Stein, J. (2013). Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation. Time, May 20. Retrieved December 7th, 2018 ( http://time.com/247/millennials-the-me-me-me-generation/

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Melanie Shaw � DATE \@ "M/1/yy, h:mm AM/PM" �1/1/19, 1:09 PM�

As with the opening, I see an opportunity for writing edits. For example, a stronger way to word this opening sentence is:

Mental health costs have escalated over the past decade in the United States (Ferri-Reed, 2013).

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Melanie Shaw � DATE \@ "M/1/yy, h:mm AM/PM" �1/1/19, 1:09 PM�

Is this exclusive to this generation? I believe not?

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Melanie Shaw � DATE \@ "M/1/yy, h:mm AM/PM" �1/1/19, 1:09 PM�

Cite each claim.

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Melanie Shaw � DATE \@ "M/1/yy, h:mm AM/PM" �1/1/19, 1:11 PM�

You need to state why this is harmful and couldn’t it be because they enjoy social media? You want to avoid making assumptions about cause. Also, Time magazine is not peer reviewed. You need to ground your writing in peer reviewed literature.

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Melanie Shaw � DATE \@ "M/1/yy, h:mm AM/PM" �1/1/19, 1:12 PM�

You must cite each assertion or you risk an academic integrity violation by paraphrasing without attributing ownership to the author.

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Melanie Shaw � DATE \@ "M/1/yy, h:mm AM/PM" �1/1/19, 1:12 PM�

Laura, you are not yet focused on a specific issue. You have introduced depression, generational mental health, social media, government expenses, poliy makers, mental health professionals, suicide, job satisfaction, etc.

I want you to use the alignment worksheet I provided to help you narrow on a specific problem.

Thanks!