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How depression and anxiety disorder affects student

Depression is a common mental problem characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, a feeling of tiredness, and low self-worth. Depression may be caused by the loss of loved ones, the ending of a relationship such as a marriage or someone you have dated for many years, and the loss of a job, among other factors. Anxiety disorder is a group of mental illnesses that cause constant fear and worry. Depression and anxiety are the two most common obstacles young teenagers and adults face. Every year, there are many cases reported among children by America's anxiety and depression association. Every eight children are affected which can make it challenging for teachers to identify these disorders. Both show different signs among different people, but this is why knowing the combinations of behavior to look for is key.

Loss of hope for the future and being unable to picture a future for oneself may lead someone to depression. The first nation group in Canada suffered from a loss of hope for the future due to being forced off their ancestral land into the reservation, from generation to generation. As a result, suicide cases were higher among first nation people compared to any other group in Canada. When someone loses hope for the future, they may realize that they cannot control the future and that there is no way of influencing it. “It is hard for someone to picture happiness when feeling as if it is unattainable” (Liu, pg.34). Another reason for depression and anxiety is disconnection from intrinsic motivation, which is when one loses interest and motivation to participate in the activities they once enjoyed. In most cases, however, people are forced into the activities since they are not motivated (Milić, Jakov, et al. 658). In addition, depression and anxiety are caused by overworking; for example, when a young adult is overworked while at home, he or she may be tired and probably will not pay attention in the classroom because they are stressed. When the brain is exposed to chronic stress its chemical balance is interrupted.

People with untreatable health conditions are at high risk of becoming depressed. Prolonged exposure of the illness can manifest as depression. Some diseases are untreatable especially cancer when recognized at the final stage. Therefore, patients suffering from this disease are at high risk of becoming victims of depression. Genetics and family history are a major cause of anxiety disorder as well. For instance, one may suffer from neuroticism if a family member suffers from the disease. Another cause of the anxiety is stress, especially in early life, because stress causes the hormone cortisol. “Anxiety disorder is also caused by traumatising events, where one's suffering may be prolonged” (Islam). 2017 research indicated that many people suffering from anxiety disorder had a difficult time in their life coping with childhood trauma. As a result the brain adopts opposing thought processes and forms neural networks that disturb its natural chemistry.

Globally, nearly four in ten adults say their lives have been affected to some extent by depression and anxiety. According to research done in 2020, close to one in five adults said their lives had been affected by depression which also affected their close family members or friends, since their regular daily activities had been interfered with. Research done in certain regions such as America, Western Europe, and Northern America, include that the majority of people between the age of 15 and above said they had experienced this condition or knew somebody who had it. Reports indicate that globally both men and women equally experience depression and anxiety, which affect their regular activities.

Internationally, depression and anxiety has affected economic development where many people spend a lot of money on medication and therapy sessions in order to get treatment. According to the World Health Organization, “Depression is the second most common reason for disability in the world and only ten percent of people receive proper treatment.” Therefore, depression is a world health disorder hence affecting many countries. It can also affect the way people perform at work, leading to possible unproductivity. When there is low production in the work field, this may affect a country in terms of goods being exported, which may lower, or decrease.

Depression is not a terminal disease, however, it can cause individuals to commit actions that end their life. If a parent is depressed and decides to take their life, this can possibly cause their child to then grow up in an orphanage (depending on the circumstances). This child/teen may even turn to drug abuse as an escape from their own depression growing up, due to the lack of proper guidelines. Therefore, in this case, it is not the depression itself that harmed the individual, but it is what drove them to partake in harmful and possibly terminal actions. “Depression and anxiety in the world has affected the bright future of many students who end up performing poorly in school or even sometimes dropping out” (Xiao, pg. 23). A lot of big visions have been interfered with by depression where some learners who have the potential of becoming the doctors and lawyers of tomorrow have their dreams shattered because of this harmful mental illness.

It is important for students to study about depression and anxiety disorder in order for them to understand that talking about it is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. When celebrities talk about their struggle with depression, anxiety, or any other mental distress, it sends several important messages, especially to young students who are going through the same struggle. One celebrity in a tweet shared “I did not learn about depression immediately but it took me some time, therefore the key is to be open minded and ready to share struggles.” Many male students have a tendency to keep depression to themselves in order to fit societal norms, however if hearing other male influencers speak up, they may begin to see the importance of opening up, and start to feel accepted.

Learning about depression is important to students and people in general because they are able to understand the challenges that come with it. Learning enables people to understand that opening up and being truthful on how they feel about depression on a societal level gives students the best opportunity to find solutions. Therefore, studying it is important because it enables learners to understand that it is a part of life and they should not be scared.

In today's society, Depression and Anxiety are extremely stigmatized. Unfortunately, most of the people surrounding us tend to put barriers for people who need help. Studying depression teaches student and people affected by depression that we should not stigmatize people, but rather give a shoulder for someone to lean on (Islam et al 15). Another important reason for studying depression among students is that it enables them to acknowledge early signs of depression before it becomes increasingly worse; therefore, with early awareness, students are able to get help as early as possible. When learners are taught about depression, they are in a position to learn how to handle it if at any given chance they might be affected.

Setting goals is one of the ways that can assist in working toward prevention. Depressed individuals and students might feel hopeless, or as if they are not worthy to accomplish set goals. To offset this mindset, individuals with the disorder can be taught to set daily goals, starting with small accomplishments such as making their bed or brushing their teeth. Another important aspect is doing exercise; regular exercise helps the brain maintain clarity. Having fun help prevent depression, sometimes it is simply necessary to make time for things you enjoy. Keep trying as much fun as possible it might help. “Sometimes it is good you go dinner with friends because this will help ease depression” (Milic, pg. 34). Seek professional help and talk to others for support and assistance, especially friends. Also trying something new is also another method of preventing depression and anxiety. Sometimes it is good to try new methods such as going to a museum or just seat in the park and read a book (Xiao, Huidi, et al 5047). Also challenging negative thought its another aspect of preventing depression. Sometimes its good to change on how you think. You can beat back those negative thought before they get out of control.

Sufficient sleep it’s another method to prevent depression. Too little sleep can make depression worse. One may take al destruction out of bedroom such as TV in order for them to have enough sleep. Another important aspect of preventing depression is taking responsibility and occupying yourself with activities that will keep you busy. Staying involved and having daily responsibility is important in countering depression because these activities usually keep you busy and you do not have enough time to be idle hence, you cannot overthink.

Conclusion

Depression is a common illness that causes a persistent feeling of sadness. Its common among young adult. Depression and anxiety disorder are different; even though some people with depression experience similar system to those with anxiety disorder. Most people who develop depression has an history of anxiety disorder in their lives. Depression and anxiety is caused by various aspect, including loss of life to our beloved ones, loss of job, being isolated especially in school or in society, long illness, cancer, family history and disorder, stress among many factors. Depression and anxiety are the two most common obstacles young teenagers and adults face. Every year, there are many cases reported among children by America's anxiety and depression association. Every eight children are affected which can make it challenging for teachers to identify these disorders. Both show different signs among different people, but this is why knowing the combinations of behavior to look for is key. Depression has many impacts to student and globally such as many students dropping out of school or poor performance, many deaths including suicide, a lot of disabilities, economy decline and poor output due to lack of motivation. Therefore, depression can be prevented through exercise, trying new method such visiting museum, going dinner with friends, eating health food among another factor (Lun, et al 195). When depression is studied and made awareness to both students and people, therefore there will be fewer cases of people committing suicide because they already have knowledge of depression. People should support each other. When people are educated about depression in the future, there will be little number of people who will be affected by depression because of people are able to seek help when they are depressed. Moreover, Learning about depression is important to students and people in general because they are able to understand the challenges that come with it. Learning enables people to understand that opening up and being truthful on how they feel about depression on a societal level gives students the best opportunity to find solutions. Therefore, studying depression is important because it enables learners to understand that it is a part of life and they should not be scared.

Anointed Bibliography

Othman, Nasih, et al. "Perceived impact of contextual determinants on depression, anxiety and stress: a survey with university students." International journal of mental health systems 13.1 (2019): 1-9.

The authors were from the school of health policy and management, York University, Toronto, Canada. Authors were students during the time of the research who came from different departments but the majority came from psychology departments. The article summarizes the causes of mental health disorders and their solution, along with qualitative study on stress, anxiety and depression among post-secondary students. Coming up with a resolution to depression was their motivation. They were able to interact directly with affected students, where they obtained primary data. These sources support my thesis by adding knowledge on causes of depression. They focused on how young adults are most affected by depression and anxiety disorder.

Faisal, Rajib Ahmed, et al. "Mental health status, anxiety, and depression levels of Bangladeshi university students during the COVID-19 pandemic." International journal of mental health and addiction (2021): 1-16.

Current student at Bangladeshi university did a survey. Researchers were undergraduate students between the age of 17 and 38 years. The survey was about item valid tools for mental health inventory. Depression affects all aspects of life, including education. Biased in this source is that the survey was done using social media; hence some people did not have access to social media therefore they did not participate in research. In addition, self-report was utilized in this study to measure depression. This survey supports my thesis by inventing tools to measure depression. In addition, they come up with who depression affects most.

Kebede, Mebratu Abraha, Birke Anbessie, and Getinet Ayano. "Prevalence and predictors of depression and anxiety among medical students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia." International journal of mental health systems 13.1 (2019): 1-8.

A medical student in China did this research. The author of this article was creative. The summary of this article highlighted the problem of depression and anxiety among medical students. Also summarized how social and economic factors contribute to depression and anxiety disorder. Motivation of this source included analysis of the prevalence of depression and anxiety based on a large sample size, and a potential solution to dismiss mental health disease. This source supports my thesis on how medical students relate with depression and how social and economic factors contribute to depression and social anxiety.

Lun, K. Wc, et al. "Depression and anxiety among university students in Hong Kong." Hong Kong Med J 24.5 (2018): 466-472.

A student in Hong Kong did this article research. The article focuses on determining the prevalence of depression and anxiety. It Also summarizes factors associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety disorder among university students. The motivation of this article is that depression can be prevented. In the article, they got primary data on depression and anxiety disorder by interviewing young students in the field. This source supports my thesis by adding more knowledge on factors associated with depression and anxiety, and getting information from primary sources on the symptoms of depression.

References

Islam, Md Akhtarul, et al. "Depression and anxiety among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional survey." PloS one 15.8 (2020): e0238162..

Liu, Chunli, et al. "Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety among doctoral students: The mediating effect of mentoring relationships on the association between research self-efficacy and depression/anxiety." Psychology research and behavior management 12 (2019): 195.

Milić, Jakov, et al. "High levels of depression and anxiety among Croatian medical and nursing students and the correlation between subjective happiness and personality traits." International Review of Psychiatry 31.7-8 (2019): 653-660.

Xiao, Huidi, et al. "Social distancing among medical students during the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic in China: disease awareness, anxiety disorder, depression, and behavioral activities." International journal of environmental research and public health 17.14 (2020): 5047.

Othman, Nasih, et al. "Perceived impact of contextual determinants on depression, anxiety and stress: a survey with university students." International journal of mental health systems 13.1 (2019): 1-9.

Faisal, Rajib Ahmed, et al. "Mental health status, anxiety, and depression levels of Bangladeshi university students during the COVID-19 pandemic." International journal of mental health and addiction (2021): 1-16.

Kebede, Mebratu Abraha, Birke Anbessie, and Getinet Ayano. "Prevalence and predictors of depression and anxiety among medical students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia." International journal of mental health systems 13.1 (2019): 1-8.

Lun, K. Wc, et al. "Depression and anxiety among university students in Hong Kong." Hong Kong Med J 24.5 (2018): 466-472.