At the end of English 4, I was tasked with creating a full fleshed out research paper, MLA format, multiple non-intranet sources, an interview, the whole enchilada.

Here it is for your enjoyment! Take of it what you will.

NOTE: If some of the info seems outdated, it might be. This was finished in Jan of 2014, so it's going to be old-ish.
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The Plague of the Mind

Human beings, throughout their lives, possess an immense capacity for knowledge, feeling, thought, and action. They are capable of extraordinary physical feats like halting the flow of rivers, and they also have a remarkable ability to deeply care and exhibit feelings for their fellow man. Unsurprisingly, it is a mystery how such beings are able to accomplish so much and feel so strongly for each other. However, what is known about humanity is they also have a rather strange tendency to become very unhappy and forlorn, despite all of what the species can perform. Almost as if by some disease, there are some humans that seemingly without cause become depressed and loose the spark in life that once permeated every breath of their existence. To this day, the phenomenon publically known as “Depression” has become a field of great interest to concerned communities around the world. Quite recently, many experts believe they have made inroads into the subject, while many speculate much has yet to be learned. It is this paper’s purpose to skim the surface of but a few of these discoveries and how depression affects the everyday person. Specifically regarding teenage depression, this paper will address firstly, what is depression and how is it diagnosed, secondly, what are the key causes of depression, and finally, what methods are there for treating depression in teens and adults alike.

A Description and Overview of Depression

At the forefront of any subject is the key question, “what is depression?”. Not surprisingly, this ostensibly innocuous question has been widely misinterpreted by both society and those experts who study this specific subject of interest. Possibly the most misunderstood conceptions about depression is that it is some kind of sickness; a disease which affects everyone equally and makes people feel unhappy with life. For this reason, it is imperative to understand exactly what depression is, the aspects on how it is categorized, and the marked difference between mere sadness and severe, clinical depression.

Being depressed, or “depression”, as stated by Merriam Webster’s New World Dictionary: Third college Edition, is “… an emotional condition, either neurotic or psychotic, characterized by feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, etc…”. Professionally, it is not defined as a specific disease, because it is not inherently contagious, nor is it assumed a general occurrence that affects all ages equally. Depression is, at root, a group of symptoms that someone feels or exhibits which happen to fall underneath the term of depression. Such symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, a distinct lack of activity, and, more importantly, thoughts of self-harm or suicide. All of the aforementioned are symptoms of depression, and while many, there are marked differences in how depression is classified and how it is managed between certain age groups. Such a group that is of prominent concern, are teens who are depressed as compared to adults with like ailments. One major difference between teens and adult depression is the amount of experience order individuals have. Teenagers, unlike adults, are still in a learning and maturing phase of their life. Naturally, they are going to be more receptive to their surroundings as they continue to build and garner skills that will shape their character. Adults, on the other hand, are expected to already possess strategies they developed, throughout their years, to deal with situations. That’s not to say that adults can handle depression better than teens, however it is assumed that they are more equipped to do so than younger individuals. A second major difference in teen depression is the prerequisites that are demanded of their age groups. A teen on a daily basis is expected to meet specific goals and deadlines in many areas of their life, and this can exhibit a large amount of stress on the teen. Instances when a teenager falls short of said goals, regardless of the reason, can have a very negative backlash on their person. Often it is difficult to detect if, and when, someone is experiencing bouts of depression and if these are just stages or something decidedly more serious. As a direct result of there being so many diverse situations of depression, experts have divided depression into separate categories, ranging from seasonal bouts, a normal depressed mood, depression as a result of illness, periods where people just feel down, and major clinical depression. Certainly there are outward symptoms and signs of when an individual is afflicted by depression and what certain type of depression it is, however there are also particularly strong emotional indicators as well.

Probably one of the most significant factors in determining a type of depression is in a person’s emotional faculties. The way someone feels can indicate whether a spell of sadness is something mild like the blues, or a much more serious case. Mild depression in teens can be caused as a result of something that occurred which affected the teen in some way. Such instances like a low grade, losing a sports game, loss of a stage play spot, or something as trivial like a bad hair day, can lead to adolescents experiencing emotional setbacks. This is Event-related depression. Affected persons may feel saddened, be less sociable around their family or their peers, and may even suffer episodes of tears. Other things that can potentially delay someone can include, but not be limited to: injuries, bad gossip, disappointment in a thing or person, a stint of the flu, or arguments between peers. Teenagers, specifically, can be triggered by natural bodily reactions, periods, growth spurts, acne flare-ups, break-ups, grades, or discriminations involved with their appearance. Seasonal depression is related to periods in a season where someone is more inclined to feel depressed than others. A woman’s period or a boy’s acne flare-ups qualifies as this. On the other hand, chronic depression is more concerned with a feeling that occurs repeatedly over a long period of time. An event-related depression that a teenager might seem to get over, but relapses later, is a case of this depression. Generally, any of the above mentioned classes, along with numerous other events, can cause a teen to feel irritable or reclusive. Feelings like these are expected in teens, because of the fact they are still growing. An important trait of a depressed person is their ability to recover back to their original disposition. This is held to be explicitly true, in regards to normal, mild depression. While a teen may appear less than chipper emotionally, they may function just fine in their academics, extra-curricular activities, or other related activities. Concerning mild depression, a teen is expected to bounce back relatively quickly, depending on the reason for their original depression. Understandably, the depression from a boy/girlfriend breakup will have a different acceptable grief period than a depression from mass hormonal imbalances, as a girl’s period. Otherwise, normal life functions should unfold naturally. The distinction, however, arises when one considers the difference between some mild depression, and something decidedly more serious.
Severe, or clinical depression in anyone, regardless of age, occurs when the person in question not only feels abnormally but also behaves likewise. When feelings of depression become pertinent enough that they start to impact how a teenager performs in everyday activities, it may be an indicator of something greater than the blues. Disproportionate prolonged reactions to an event may also hint at a larger case of depression as well. Specifically, if a teenager, who is emotionally compromised, starts not only to fall behind behavior wise, but to repeatedly and habitually lag behind his or her peers, then he or she may be afflicted with severe depression. Young people may harbor strong feelings of fear, guilt, or shame at something they may have been involved in; feelings much more pertinent and stronger than something otherwise cataloged in moderate depression. Depending on the intensity, thoughts of utter hopelessness, suicide, and feeling unwanted have been recorded most frequently. Adults, who have experienced depression, have often cited that they sometimes have trouble performing even the simplest of actions. Picking up the phone or getting out of bed is viewed as too much trouble, and they would be better off not doing anything at all. Andrew Solomon gave an in-depth lecture on depression through a TED talk from a first-hand experience. His explanation of depression summarizes the concept in a very concise manner. Below is an excerpt from the video transcript:

There are three things people tend to confuse: depression, grief, and sadness. Grief is explicitly reactive. If you have a loss and you feel incredibly unhappy, and then, six months later, you are still deeply sad, but you’re functioning a little better, it’s probably grief, and it will probably, ultimately resolve itself in some measure. If you experience a catastrophic loss and you feel terrible, and six months later you can barely function at all, then it’s probably a depression that was triggered by the catastrophic circumstances. The trajectory tells us a great deal. People think of depression as being just sadness. It’s much, much too much sadness, much too much grief at far too slight a cause.1 (Solomon, 2013)

As Solomon stated, true depression is a grief or sadness taken to near ridiculous levels. Like adults, such an intensity of depression will manifest itself also in a teen’s depression. In severe cases, the teen may feel so truly affected, that they being to fall dangerously behind in their academic standing. Because of this, severe depression can be more easily spotted or noticeable, though this is not always the case, as an individual can hide their symptoms from peers for a long time2. For this reason, it is imperative and essential to a teenager’s well-being that any symptoms a teen may express, which are characteristic with severe depression, must be brought to attention immediately, even more so if such behavior has been detected over an extended period of time. Teenagers, as opposed to adults, cannot afford a sizeable dent in their social, academic, or activity related studies. For example, if an adult is experiencing clinical depression, and his boss and co-workers understand, he can have someone potentially cover for him. Conversely, if a teenager is depressed, and his grades begin to drop, there is little chance of those grades being bolstered. The ramifications of this are terrifying. Thus, a teenager has a decidedly less resilience of recovering from depression than an adult, and as such, should be taken in immediately should signs of clinical depression be detected. Choosing to wait it out is ill-advised.
In closing, the very definition, classification, and striking differences between what many consider “being depressed” and “clinical depression”, is of great significance to society at large. Moreover, the dire consequences of failing to identify depression or misidentifying it cannot be emphasized any more, when the well-being and future of a teen is in jeopardy. Thus, it is essential to understand what the indicators are so that one may correctly identify any depression and be better equipped to respond.

The Causes and effects of Depression

Knowing the definition of depression, unfortunately, is one side of truly understanding depression. As many doctors would agree, why a disease occurs is crucially important to understanding any ailment, especially in how to treat it. If, for some reason, a doctor should prescribe a treatment that only exacerbates the problem instead of alleviating it, the consequences can be deadly. Depression itself has just as much in common with the characteristics of a disease in this aspect, ranging from the cause, to the consequence. The root causes of depression can be attributed mentally and socially, and like its more contagious counterpart, aggravated depression can lead to very dangerous and devastating results.

Understanding why someone feels depressed surprisingly, at root, is less complicated than may otherwise be believed. While the circumstances differ in age groups, the root causes of any feeling humans express are relatively the same. Almost all the body’s mental and physical faculties come from neural connections and neurochemicals in the brain. Naturally, any feeling of depression originates the same way, caused by the balance of specific chemicals called neurotransmitters. A couple of such are serotonin, a neurotransmitter often thought to be a key component in feeling happiness, norepinephrine, which is a chemical related to stress, and acetylcholine, a chemical which has been indicated to affect sleep. Some experts have studied the levels of balance between serotonin and the other two chemicals, believing it may be part of the puzzle in figuring out depression. It has been speculated that either a lowered level in serotonin or a higher level in norepinephrine can increase the potential for depression, and another conjecture is that the same imbalance of chemicals has the potential to influence thoughts or acts of suicide. To a teenager, this is crucial, as not only are their conscious mental faculties are underdeveloped, but their bodies are also still developing. It may be that the massive chemical shifts that occur during puberty of a teenager might alter the chemical equilibrium thereby encouraging depressed thoughts. Considering all of this, it is highly likely that the true reason for depression is not the rate of chemical imbalance, but the capacity for such an occurrence. Teenagers going through puberty, along with a myriad of life events happening around them, may have a higher probability of a chemical inequality than adults. What is particularly disturbing about this is the fact that how a teenager grows up and develops these neurochemical shifts will affect their adulthood. Sociologists whole-heartedly agree that the upbringing of an individual directly affects their character and habits when in their later life.3 Knowing this, it is not unreasonable to assume that a teenager, who is chronically depressed through their youth, will be so through a good portion of their life because of how their brain would have grown as a result of their upbringing. On the other hand, a teenager with very positive reactions growing with very few episodes of depression, is generally expected to have less of a risk developing such a disorder than on who is less fortunate. However, even people with very few reasons to be depressed in their lives or in their brain, can still experience the severest cases of depression, despite their predisposition.4 Certainly, people with anxiety disorders and mental conditions have a potential for a higher risk of a neurochemical imbalance occurring. In conclusion, the chemicals of the brain may not only cause a higher risk of depression in teenagers, as compared to adults, but they may also affect how adults themselves cope with depression later on.

While neurochemical changes in the brain may be the internal reason why people exhibit the state known as “Depression”, there are also a number of external reasons as to why teens may feel depressed. From a sociological perspective, it is a widely held belief that young adolescents derive a great deal of their information and build their sense of self, off of interactions between their peers and their elders. Adolescents are highly perceptive to their surroundings, and as such, it should come as no surprise that a teenager’s attitude may potentially reflect the surroundings they live in. In big cities and even in small ones, crime is expected to be higher in parts of the town where poverty is more prevalent. Society’s preconceived notions about slums and the “red light” districts of cities do little to help the unhealthy stigma that poor communities have acquired over recent times. With the media often placing those of lower status in a bad light, the preconceptions that people develop over the years can contribute in part to misery from the viewpoint of society. From these assumptions, it is not a far stretch to deduce that depression within these impoverished areas may be higher than areas where there is a much more cultured reputation. Another sociological factor that can contribute to over unhappiness is discrimination. Specifically, in the United States, discrimination against those of dark-skin color or foreigners is engrained deeply into the history of the nation. Unsurprisingly, the trend, while it has lessened over the years, still is kept alive by the younger ages, although it is more referred to as “Racism”, which is discrimination against a certain race. Yet despite all the preconceived notions and bad reputation those of lower class and race may have, one has to wonder why this would contribute to an individual’s depression? After all, the individual will not have the same views as society, nor will the individual technically agree with society on all of its points. So, why would this affect depression directly? In thinking of a single individual, the meaning is lost, unless one considers the opinions of a group. While a teenager is maturing and building their identity, one of the things they will naturally do is bounce ideas, world views, and expectations off of other peers near the young adult’s age. In this instance, factors like poverty and discrimination become more prevalent. If a teenager is told by his or her peers a certain notion about a type of people or a certain group, then that teenager will be more inclined to go along with the notion, whether that be true or not. Overtime, a teenager, who has had their peers and adults around them reinforce a certain notion over and over again, then that teenager will be inclined to believe in that notion, regardless if that notion is right or wrong. This is critical in understanding the thought process leading to depression, because it gives us a better explanation on how an individual, growing up against discrimination, may develop depressive tendencies. Imagine growing up in a situation where a certain boy is constantly fed that a being Gay is considered sub-par, frowned upon, and otherwise undesired by society, and suppose this boy himself is gay. Peer pressure alone will have a profound impact on the boy, and society’s reinforcement of the issue will only strengthen the boy’s preconceived notions that being gay is “wrong”. In some situations, this can lead to a greater chance of depression, because some teenagers, if they internalize an issue long enough and under the right circumstances will come to believe that not only being gay is wrong, but the very fact that they are gay, means that there could be something wrong with them. In this aspect, the sociological impact against a teenager is more pronounced, and can become a major cause of depression within a troubled teen’s mind. As a result of this, a teenager may begin to develop unhealthy habits synonymous with depression, which could potentially lead to disastrous consequences.

When one stops to consider what depression can do to someone, a key factor that may come to mind is the possibility of suicide. Why would someone kill themselves is a topic debated and studied profusely in the academic arena, and it is one of vital importance in understanding depression. Suicide is described by Webster’s New World Dictionary: Third College Edition, as “…the act of killing oneself intentionally…ruin of one’s interests or prospects through one’s own actions, policies, etc..” It happens to be the third leading cause of death for teenagers aged fifteen and twenty-four years. Even more shockingly, is that not only is the amount of suicide in a teenager’s age range appalling, the rate of suicide attempts has increased over the past recent years, while the rate of suicide attempts in elder people has actually decreased. Regardless of the reason, suicide is a major cause for concern in young people’s lives, particularly because of the widespread effect it has upon everyone who knew the individual in question. It is undeniable that suicide can be directly related to depression, but the harder part is understanding why. People can commit suicide when they are under the influence, they can unintentionally die as a result of a hazardous dare, and they can even die willingly for some cause by blowing themselves up harming many innocents. Suicide as a cause of depression, however, is more straightforward. Suicide, often results from thoughts of self-infliction, whether they be tied with the intention of dying. Usually, when someone is truly deliberating on self-harm, it is because the person has lost hope or lost faith in attempting to find a reason to live. It could be that they find life too hard and the sadness of the world too great, or it could be a result of an inordinate feeling of shame because of something. There have been records of people who will commit suicide and leave a note that tries to lay the blame on someone close to them, claiming, “…[person] drove me to this…”, however the main point lies not with whoever they try to blame, but with the suicidal person. Thoughts of suicide occur when the individual perceives there is no other alternative out there other than the ending of their own life. Without realizing the implications this has on the people around them, a suicidal person may either show signs of suicide, threaten suicide, attempt to kill them self, or at worst, succeed. This very reason is why experts and doctors alike strongly urge parents and peers to watch for signs of depression. It is also the reason why experts tell parents to take teenagers in and determine as soon as possible if they are clinically depressed, as suicide is a looming possibility. Finally, suicide, as previously stated, not only affects the immediate relatives of the deceased juvenile, but also his or her peers. The act of suicide in the mind of a maturing youth is terrifying to experience and even more so if the youth had a deep connection with the friend who died. Such deep connections that are shattered without notice can inadvertently set off a new existence of depression for the youth as a direct result of a friend’s suicide, possibly further complicating the matter entirely. All of these reasons compounded emphatically prove that suicide, as a result of depression in teenagers, is something that deserves much deliberation and study, for it may be that more than one life is in danger.

Without a doubt, the neurological and sociological causes of depression, as well as the ever present threat of suicide, make teenage depression a topic that cannot be taken lightly in any way. Teenage depression, as proven by the two previous discussions, is a subject that must be fully understood from both within the depression and the outside variables. It is the hope of many experts in the field that the public learn to identify depression and truly understand the forces that shape it into existence. Only after that, can decisive action be taken and true, effective treatments be prescribed to help the depressed person, and the concerned family around the teen.

Treatment Methods

Only after a consensus on what the depression is and what caused it in the first place, can experts address the matter. Yet even here, there is fear that this will also be unsuccessful, as some methods of depression treatment have received negative reputations. In conclusion of this study, a summary of the most common methods of treating depression will be discussed, ranging from group therapy, psychotherapy (or individual therapy), and the controversial anti-depressants.

Probably the most widely-known way and less controversial of the methods in treating depression is group therapy. The purpose of this is to attempt to address the emotions, habits, and environment of the depressed teen all at once, through having the teenager sit down and talk with other peers who may be undergoing depression. As each aspect is a contributing factor it does no good to choose one and neglect the others. Firstly, to address the emotional side, group therapy is meant to break the affected teenager out of their feelings of hopelessness and loss. If thoughts of suicide have been detected in the individual, then therapy, in the emotional aspect, is to get the teen to believe there are other options besides death. Even if the teenager is so thoroughly bent on suicide it seems impossible, group therapy works to surround the teen with reasons he or she can understand and possible begin to listen to again. A popular misconception is that bringing up the mention of suicide or depression may make matters worse. This is not the case, for if a person is truly depressed, then anything that can potentially improve their perception of them self and the world will help. Secondly, group therapy is directly meant to break the teen out of their self-destructive habits. Things like staying inside, not getting out of bed, and not talking to anybody about their problems qualify as self-destructive, if they are severely depressed. While not inherently harmful, however, these habits nevertheless only allow the teen to brood in his or her depression, instead of helping the teen get better. Group therapy, in this matter, is meant to encourage the teen to get outside, out of the dark, and into sunlight and company. Even if the teenager does not seem responsive at first, this therapy is meant to slowly convince the teenager along with emotional therapy, that they can be happy again. It is quite possible that while the teen was depressed, they have lost faith in or forgotten important social skills that they once had with their close friends. Another physical reason is that this specific therapy allows a teen to bounce off ideas and talk freely with people he can relate to depression-wise. Many do not realize this has a profound impact on a teenager’s attitude and state of mind, because the very fact that he can relate to others can speak volumes in the mind of a teen. Thirdly, group therapy is meant to address not only the teenager involved, but his entire immediate family. As previously stated, a teen’s environment can be a contributing factor in depression, and as group therapy will almost always involve the family in some way or form, it effectively targets the needed area. On occasion, group therapy can target multiple families at the same time if needed. Sometimes, it can be revealed through the teen’s discussions that habits the family has been doing are making the depression worse, and in those cases, such habits can be addressed and corrected. Other times, the therapist in charge may begin to notice specific behavioral habits that have arisen because of his depression.5 However, a key thing to note about group therapy is that it addresses many teens at once, but may not immediately focus on the teen individually. While this is a step in the right direction, usually there are other methods along with group therapy that an expert may recommend.

Just as there are different types of depression, so there are different types of therapy. Apart from group therapy, which involves many people, Psychotherapy is designed solely to work with the depression at its source, the teen. This individual therapy is different from group therapy because it is more concerned with finding the cause of depression, rather than fixing it. To make a comparison, Psychotherapy opens up the teen, while group therapy can help address key issues with the teen. Psychotherapy attempts to find out the root cause of the depression. They do this by taking note of habits the teen subconsciously does while talking, like eye contact, nervous shuffling, and other like actions. Psychotherapists will originally gauge their reactions to the patient and how the patient reacts to them. This could be essential in determining the root cause. Another they naturally do is attempt to find out form the teen them self of any quirks they might have picked up through their depression. For example, if a teenager has been sleeping erratically, they may say so or may reflect it in their behavior and the therapist can address that. Unsurprisingly, there are many multiple methods of psychotherapy along with results of these methods, however the results of these methods may not all be the same. Psychotherapy, unfortunately, is not a one-size-fits-all treatment, and usually a therapist will suggest other actions along with the therapy itself. Some therapists may use interactive tools in their work, like art or clay, to better let the student express themselves and connect with the therapist. In essence, Psychotherapy is designed with the individual in mind, however, should that not be enough, there is a method, less liked by the public, but just as effective.

Probably one of the least liked treatments of depression is drugs and anti-depressants. The very sound of “drugs” to any family, especially a teen’s mind, is repulsive, and one wouldn’t think it would be necessary in treating depression. On the contrary, in serious cases, where the teen is chronically depressed and shows or has shown signs of suicide, then drugs and anti-depressants are emphatically crucial. The specific role of such medications is to target the neural chemicals of the brain itself; the place where the feeling of depression originates. Looking back to the precarious balance of chemicals like serotonin and norepinephrine, anti-depressants main goal is to locate and re-establish a balance between the two. Some medicines’ role in re-balancing neurochemicals is to lower the amount of one, or boost the amount of the other. If an imbalance is what causes depression, then, summarily, the purpose of the drug is to help adjust the balance immediately, so that therapy and other methods can help stabilize the condition naturally. The role these drugs have in treatment is to get the teen out of their depressed feeling and into a state where they are no longer in jeopardy of a suicidal death. Anti-depressants alone will not fix the depression. They are used always in tandem with psychotherapeutic methods and by a doctor’s discretion. The reason they have been given a bad reputation is the predisposition of families towards using drugs and the possible disclaimer on anti-depressants themselves. Unfortunately, on the label of many anti-depressants, there is a note that states these medicines may actually increase thoughts of suicide in teens and adults; however, this is because of the way anti-depressants are designed to work. There is also preconception in a teenager’s mind that if they are required to take anti-depressives, they are mentally unwell and “psycho”. They don’t want to be taken as “that crazy kid” by their peers. In past history, the media and other outlets have viewed anti-depressants in a bad light, which may have carried over to the public. In reality, anti-depressants are not designed “for the mental people”, rather they are designed in order to stave off possible suicide deaths and to assist doctors in treating depression. These drugs are usually not taken for more than a year and are closely monitored by the parents and the therapist in case of an overdose.

As has been demonstrated, there are numerous methods of treating depression, ranging from group therapy, individual therapy, and drug therapy. To this day, experts are finding new methods of working with teens, for not every case is the exact same. Although there is not a panacea for curing depression, there will be many ways to address it for years to come.
Conclusion
Without a doubt, depression in teens and adults is a vast subject. From the meaning, to the cause, to the methods, the vast range of what is known, what is available, and what is yet to be discovered is staggering. As human beings, the absolute range of emotions and how they express them cannot be all catalogued or listed, but they can be studied. It is the hope of this paper to only touch on the most important subjects and to highlight the important factors in the field of depression. In years to come, there may be many, many more discoveries and treatments that the world hasn’t even thought of, that may be the key to unlocking this plague of the mind.


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Notes
1: “Transcript of Andrew Solomon’s Speech on Depression: The secret we Share. Web. www.TED.com Dec. 2013

2: See online article: Many teens hide their depression due to stigma and the other pages associated with said article. Web. Wednesday, May 27th (Year unknown) http://www.depressionforums.org/df-libr ... -to-stigma

3: Chapter 5: Personalization as a social product. Eitzen, D. Stanley, Maxine Baca Zinn, and Kelly Eitzen Smith. In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society. 13th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

4: (pp. 27)Kaufman, Miriam. Overcoming Teen Depression: A Guide for Parents. Buffalo: Firefly, 2001. Print.

5: Psychotherapy: Kaufman, Miriam. Overcoming Teen Depression: A Guide for Parents. Buffalo: Firefly, 2001. Print.
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Works Cited

Sources in Print:

Small, Gary W. Ibrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. New York: HarperCollins, 2008. Print

Kaufman, Miriam. Overcoming Teen Depression: A Guide for Parents. Buffalo: Firefly, 2001. Print.

Charon, Joel M. Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective. 8th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Durkheim, Emile. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Print.

“Definition of Depression.” Webster's New World Dictionary: Third College Edition. Ed. Victoria E. Neufeldt. Fourth Edition ed. Vol. Fourth Printing. New York, NY: Webster's New World Dictionaries, 1988. Print.

Solomon, Andrew. Andrew Solomon: Depression, the secret we share. 2013. Video. www.Ted.comWeb. 5 Jan 2014. <http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_solomon_depression_the_secret_we_share.html>.

Eitzen, D. Stanley, Maxine Baca Zinn, and Kelly Eitzen Smith. In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society. 13th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
Sources Online:

“Nami: National Alliance On Mental Illness | Teenage Suicide.” www.nami.org. NAMI, n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm>.

“Depression in Children and Adolescents (Fact Sheet).” www.nimh.nih.gov/. National Institute of Health, n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-in-children-and-adolescents/index.shtml>.

“Many Teens Hide Their Depression Due to Stigma.” www.depressionforums.org. (unknown), n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. <http://www.depressionforums.org/df-library/116-mental-illness-stigma/1547-many-teens-hide-their-depression-due-to-stigma>.

Interview:
Prof. Patrick J. Davis, Ph.D. Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. University Distinguished Teaching Professor. Personal interview. 23 Dec. 2013
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(Mr. Davis actually happens to be my Taekwondo instructor So that's a nifty bonus)