in this slide i present some facts about depression and suicide ideation in adolescence ..... plus a personal study ( interviws)

1. The association between depression and suicide in adolescence Student : Euridiki Damoulianou Professor : Dr. Kondilis Course : Developmental Psychology II

2. AGENDA Definition of depression. Causes and symptoms of depression in adolescence. Treatment of depression. The link between depression in adolescence and suicide. Interviews. Results. Discussion/limitations.

3. INTRODUCTION Depression is a serious mental disease which disrupts relationships and daily lives. According to Greek Ministry of Health depression affects 850,00 men and 1,1000 women in Greece annually. Types of depression Dysthymic disorder Psychotic depression Postpartum depression seasonal affective disorder

4. INTRODUCTION According to the U.S. National Institute for Health almost 20% of the teenage population experience depression. Depression during adolescence should diagnosed and treated at its early stages, before developing into serious psychiatric disorder during adulthood . Depression in adolescence is usually measured through Adolescent’s self-reports of their emotions interviews and items included in checklists of depressive symptoms

5. INTRODUCTION

6. Depression in adolescence photos

7. INTRODUCTIONAdolescents with an increased risk of depression

8. INTRODUCTIONCauses of depression during adolescence

9. INTRODUCTIONCauses of depression during adolescence

10. INTRODUCTION

11. Causes for depression photos

12. INTRODUCTION In some cases, an adolescent can overcome his depressive symptoms with-out any kind of treatment as he gains maturity through his transition from adolescence to early adulthood BUT… Sometimes depression remains incurable and a set of depressive symptoms in adolescence repeat and become more intense during early-adulthood .

13. INTRODUCTION Suicide = A complex phenomenon where several environmental, social and economic factors contribute to it. According to studies, adolescents with depressive disorders present a significantly greater risk of committing suicide than those who are psychological healthy . It is the third leading cause of death among adolescents. There are more attempts at suicide by female adolescents as a whole BUT the male adolescents are more successful at dying.

14. INTRODUCTION There is a link between depression and suicide ,because…. Depression distorts an adolescent‘s point of view to such a degree that he /she perceives even small every-day problems as major ones, which are impossible for one to solve. negative thoughts + the loss of pleasure + low-self-esteem = Makes one feel that death is the only solution to escape from emotional pain .

15. Suicide photos

16. HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY Adolescents who suffer from major-depression , combined with low-self esteem and a stressful external event, are at high risk of developing suicidal thoughts or committing suicide(in adolescence or young adulthood).

17. Method subjects 4 adults -two of them were diagnosed with major depression (during adolescence) and the other two committed suicide due to major depression (two of their relatives have been interviewed). Gender: three females and one male. Ethnicity : Greeks. Aged: 22 to 35 years old. Different social, educational and financial backgrounds.

18. Participants

19. Procedure Location of the interviews : Participant’s homes. Duration of each appointment : two hours. The study was completed within two days. Before the onset of the interviews, participants received an informed consent form. All the participant’s answers were written done to a note book. When the interview was conducted, the subjects were thanked for their participation.

21. case# 3was diagnosed with moderate depression in middle-adolescence.

22. All the cases received treatment but their condition deteriorated during their transition to young-adulthood.

24. The case#4 two months before his suicide ,he had plans for the future and high levels of energy.

25. The case#3, two months before her suicide, she had extremely low-mood and no future-plans.

26. Both the case#3 and case4# before their death, they wrote an analytical letter to their families.

28. The case#1 has suicidal thoughts and she tried 5 times unsuccessfully to commit suicide via pills consumption and self-hurting.

29. The case#2 neither attempted to commit suicide nor she had any suicidal thoughts.

31. The case#1 is weight-conscious.

32. All the cases suffered from sleep-disturbances, persistent headaches and low-levels of energy.

33. The case#2 never received affection and support from her family.

34. Case#1, case#3 and case#4 had secure attachment with their family members.

37. Depression or suicide, inside the family, are two significant factors, which can make an individual vulnerable to depression or suicide.

38. Depression and suicide ideation have a genetic basis and are hereditary.

39. External stressors can lead to the deterioration of depression .

41. Drug use added with high-rates of sensation seeking, is quite common among persons who experience depression.

42. Low-self esteem is a common trait among patients of depression.A very low-self esteem, combined with negative external events, increases dramatically not only the possibilities of depression but of suicide as well.

43. Discussion Thus, the initial hypothesis, that the combination of major-depression, low-self esteem and experience of a traumatic or more traumatic events increases significantly the possibilities of suicide ideation, was proven for the case#1,case#3 and case#4.

44. Limitations of the study Although interviews present facts, they lack scientific evidence and do not define the cause and effect. They are mainly descriptive and have low- internal validity. Some participants in interviews might lie about their condition, because they try to adjust their answers to what the researcher would probably wish to hear . This study has low- external validity, because it was based only on 4 cases, and thus its results cannot be generalized.

46. From various cultures.

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