Poverty and Depression

Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression.- J.K. Rowling.

How does growing up in poverty affect teens with depression? I chose this specific question because I am one of the teens that have grown up in a poor family. I also have suffered with depression. I think that a lot of that has to do with how I grew up and my back ground. Depression is when you experience a period of low mood. You lack interest in activities, have problems sleeping, and trouble with concentration and lack of energy.

Teens who do live in poverty are twice as likely to be depressed. If the child is poor their brain activity can be weaker than someone else's. Poverty plays a big impact on that. There was a poll conducted by the Gallup-Health ways Well being Index. They asked adults over the phone questions. The results that they got showed that 31% of Americans under the census bureaus in 2011 had been diagnosed with depression. All of those people were in poverty.

There was also a study on depression amongst young adults published by Pediatrics. They found that in 12 months teens who had reported depression episode had increased by 37%. A study conducted by the Duke University also connected these two things. It proved that teens with poor households developed over 2 years a high quantity for a depression linked gene. It affects the way the genes are expressed.

Being a teen is not easy and with having financial problems in the family can result in chaos. They are also most likely to try smoking which affects them down the line. Because I grew up in a family with these problems I do battle with depression and anxiety. No one sees how having to work and go to high school or having to get out on your own right after high school can have an impact on a teenager. It played a big part in mines. It is stressful trying to have everything together at 18 while your friends are still able to live at home with parents and be stress free. This information that I have found could possibly help someone else. It also could stop the cycle because we know the problem.

My research answered my question because it stated how teens can be affected. Its hard to focus on a lot of things when you are a family of low income. You also miss out on doing fun things too. I had to answer this question for me more than anything. It proves what I have thought was the major key problem in my life all along. I hope I can help someone else one day in my shoes to conquer things no matter the situation. And help stop depression in younger teens.

One of the next steps should be how to lower the percentage of low-income families. Also, to work on communication within families so no one feels alone. Being lonely will most likely lead them to depression. It would be nice to have someone to vent with or help along the way. Most teens are too embarrassed like me to have these types of conversations with friends. You need family most importantly and sometimes a mentor as well.

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