Why are there so many depressed/suicidal teens?

[johnjohn320]

Well, according to many of my middle-aged teachers, they feel that being a teenager is quite a bit more difficult than it used to be. I'm not sure how much I believe that, but I guess I can't argue against it seeing as they were teenagers 30-40 years ago, and are now working with teenagers everyday.

I think the world is different, but you can't really blame one factor for the rise in suicides and depression.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: Zakath15

I've been saving money since I was 14... bought into a mutual fund when I was 15... starting buying CD's when I was 16. It's paying off, bit by bit... I have a net worth of around 40k now.

Depending on your financial goals, I'd pass on the CDs. They're probably the right investment if you're looking to bankroll college expenses in the next year or two, but otherwise, low interest rates are working against you. Use the malaise of the stock market to your advantage and accumulate shares of mutual funds (preferably something with value or growth) and you'll get a far better return on your investment a decade down the road.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw

Originally posted by: Zakath15

I've been saving money since I was 14... bought into a mutual fund when I was 15... starting buying CD's when I was 16. It's paying off, bit by bit... I have a net worth of around 40k now.

Depending on your financial goals, I'd pass on the CDs. They're probably the right investment if you're looking to bankroll college expenses in the next year or two, but otherwise, low interest rates are working against you. Use the malaise of the stock market to your advantage and accumulate shares of mutual funds (preferably something with value or growth) and you'll get a far better return on your investment a decade down the road.

I bought them when they were paying 7%; one of the best investments I've made. The mutual fund I bought around the same time peaked around $1400 in value, is now worth $900.

That said, I am moving my savings into a couple low risk bond funds.

 

[Moonbeam]

Depression is suppressed rage. Rage is suppressed grief. Grief is real. Did you but suffer you would not suffer.

Do you think that you would be happy if?

That if is an illusion. Get one if and there will be another. All of your hopes dreams and ideals are meaningless. Everybody knows as much. Depression happens when that truth starts sinking in.

The mind trained to think that happiness lies in 'if only' is the mind directed away from its source. Look at any puppy, any young monkey, and chimp. Do you see animal joy? It's who you are. It's what you'll find when you die to dreams, to all hope.

 

[idNut]

Originally posted by: Chubbz
its cuz of the hot guy/girl they cant get

It used to be that but I woke up one day and said "I don't need another person to make me happy".

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Just read an article at CNN.com that 500,000 teens attempt suicide each year and 800,000 are depressed.

What happens when these kids hit adulthood?

What's happened in the last 30 years that the teen suicide rate has tripled?

Probably due to the pressure and higher expectations lumped on teens nowadays. Graduation rates and literacy is at an all-time high. Colleges aren't popping up at half the pace at which the teen populating increases. A ton of competition where the maximum in advance classes for high school students extends all the way to graduate-level and upper division classes. Life's crazy now.

It ain't as easy as it was back in the day when most people didn't go to college, competition wasn't quite as fierce, and good just ain't good enough.

 

[LongCoolMother]

its not because there is more expected from kids these days. hell, im 15, im getting straight A's in high school with all the honor classes. sure, it aint easy. but our parents had it 10x worse. at least... my parents didnt have parents who had enough $$$ to buy them stuff. they had to take the bus/walk to school, they had it way tough.

kids these days get too much freedom. go to my school, or any school around here. failing kids left and right, because they are too agressive. they abuse their freedom, challenge teachers, rebel, anything but what they're supposed to do.

and what does the school do about it? they are afraid to do anything, because they are afraid of hurting their confidence, of making the kids break down emotionally. what the fvck?! these guys NEED to be chewed out. they disrespect teachers, they are not ashamed by whatever they do. spit in the hall, destroy property, whatever.

if you are afraid of yelling at them now. they wont know how reality is, and they're off to a bad start, thinking that the WORLD will actually care about how they feel 24 hours a day.

btw, not all kids are like this. but i guarantee its getting worse and worse. i see 3rd graders, 5th graders with mouthfuls of swearing and talking about sex, drugs, (not even exaggerating). its terrible.

in the end, when they go into the real world. and they see that not everyone cares about what they think, or how they feel, then they break down. they aren't so hardcore anymore. and what happens? they become depressed.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: Zakath15

I bought them when they were paying 7%; one of the best investments I've made. The mutual fund I bought around the same time peaked around $1400 in value, is now worth $900.

That said, I am moving my savings into a couple low risk bond funds.

The point is that mutual fund "losses" are paper until you sell. Assuming that you invest regularly, the lifetime growth of that mutual fund should exceed 7%, particularly since you won't be getting that rate once the CD reaches maturity.

Again, depending on the timeframe of your financial goals, low-risk is possibly not where you want to be. Younger investors with no immediate need for return on their principal should be shouldering more risk to achieve better long-term returns. I'm especially leery of bond funds right now because the instant the stock market looks like it's going to recover, I think there will be a ridiculous pendulum swing out of the bond market as people try to recapture any dips their portfolios have suffered the past three years.

 

[0roo0roo]

incomplete programming. high chance of infinite depression loop

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw

Originally posted by: Zakath15

I bought them when they were paying 7%; one of the best investments I've made. The mutual fund I bought around the same time peaked around $1400 in value, is now worth $900.

That said, I am moving my savings into a couple low risk bond funds.

The point is that mutual fund "losses" are paper until you sell. Assuming that you invest regularly, the lifetime growth of that mutual fund should exceed 7%, particularly since you won't be getting that rate once the CD reaches maturity.

Again, depending on the timeframe of your financial goals, low-risk is possibly not where you want to be. Younger investors with no immediate need for return on their principal should be shouldering more risk to achieve better long-term returns. I'm especially leery of bond funds right now because the instant the stock market looks like it's going to recover, I think there will be a ridiculous pendulum swing out of the bond market as people try to recapture any dips their portfolios have suffered the past three years.

The money that I had in CDs and that I'll be moving into low risk investments is an emergency fund; I have no desire to make a huge return off of it. However, I do want to make a bit more than inflation.

I have another couple investments that I am being more aggressive with - 6k that will be going into a Roth IRA, and another 9k that will be going into a regular brokerage acct.

 

[przero]

HappyDude111 - What? What is a "mad skill".

I know this. Every year for the last 12-15 years i have hired/tried to hire college/high school kids to work in the summer. At about $2.00 above min. wage. For the last 3 years no takers. Their parents or friends call me to see if I will hire Junior and I do. He comes to work one day or two and then nothing. Oh, his mom or dad will call me to apologize, but Junior - never see him again. Doesn't want to work and doesn't want to learn.

 

[PG]

I'm too lazy to read all the replies, but poor diets and a lack of exercise can cause depression too.
People had to do more manual labor type work in past generations and McDonalds wasn't one of the food groups.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: ed21x

Probably due to the pressure and higher expectations lumped on teens nowadays. Graduation rates and literacy is at an all-time high. Colleges aren't popping up at half the pace at which the teen populating increases. A ton of competition where the maximum in advance classes for high school students extends all the way to graduate-level and upper division classes. Life's crazy now.

It ain't as easy as it was back in the day when most people didn't go to college, competition wasn't quite as fierce, and good just ain't good enough.

For one thing, I don't have any counterevidence to disprove that assertion about graduation and literacy rates, but it sure sounds bogus to me. Pretty much every soundbite I hear about American education points to underachievement in factual knowledge, mathematic ability, and basic literacy.

Second, I keep hearing the notion bandied about that teens today somehow have it harder, as if competition to get into college today is somehow light years beyond going straight from high school into the blue-collar workforce and supporting oneself that way then. If life is harder now, it's because standards of living have increased, and people don't want to give up their satellite/broadband/SUV habits once they've left the nest.

 

[Howard]

It's simple. Poontang is now a more difficult target.

 

[Moonbeam]

Have an organic banana.

 

[agnitrate]

Originally posted by: rgwalt
"Society has us working jobs we hate to buy stuff we don't need."

Teenagers today take things too seriously. What do you think matters?

School?
Grades?
Sports?
Your computer?

School means nothing. Grades aren't important. Sports won't save you. Google won't find the answer you're looking for.

Until people honestly realize that there are very few things in life that are actually worth worrying about, depression will run rampant. I think the age until that epiphony hits is just growing later, that's all.

-silver

 

[erikiksaz]

I have two things in mind:

1) Kids are neglected. More often than not, immigrant parents work towards building the foundation for a better life for their children. Now, what do the parents do to make up for the time NOT spent with their children? Send the kids to more schooling! Hell, if it weren't for my siblings, i'd probably be depressed, always alone without any parental interaction.

2) Kids are too damn spoiled. Everything in their life is based off of money-values, even love. It kinda ties into #1, as their parents neglect them, so the only way that they feel that they can make up for it is $$.

 

[Dacalo]

happydude

werent you the one complaining about your low wage on the other thread? now you are saying you make $10?

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: poopaskoopa

Originally posted by: Leetman
I'm a teen and i can safely say I'm depressed more than i would like to be. Main cause? school + the stress of having to get into a good college to be successful in life.

This was different before? And to the kid who complained about making $6/hr: STFU. I used to make 4.25/hr when I was in highschool.

I think that says a lot right there in and of itself. He's looking for someone to agree with him, and dare I say coddle him. Being told no is depressing no matter what the age; I would think teenagers see that more than anyone else though.

 

[Leetman]

All that I am saying, is that reality finally sets in at this age, for me it did anyways. Maybe its because Ive always had everything just givin to me, I realized that I'm going to have to put more working into becoming successful. I'm 17, I have never had a job, I have never paid for anything myself, and now I finally see that no one will be there to provide for me in the future. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, its just reality.

 

[Beattie]

Teenagers are stupid.

I am 22, so I (sort of) know what I am talking about.

They are all whiny little pricks who want people to do things for them and cry to thier mommies when things dont go thier way. It's all about the pussification of america.

(*note, I am exempt from this broad generalization)

 

[Piano Man]

Because people today have more sh!t than ever before and guess what, those who have most toys are not necessarily happy. Teens today are marketed more than ever before. They are told what's cool, how to act, how to look, and what to buy to be cool. Just one of the many ills from our affluent society.

 

[Chaotic42]

Because people don't just deal with things any more. People are getting soft. Instead of "This is a lot to do, let's get started" it's "It's too much, I can't handle it, I hate my life and everyone."

No sympathy from me about it.

 

[Leetman]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
"This is a lot to do, let's get started"

I like that, a sentance like that actually makes me feel pretty motivated. You are right, one of the reasons is because we give up too easily.

Edit, spelling.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Leetman

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
"This is a lot to do, let's get started"

I like that, a sentance like that actually makes me feel pretty motivated. You are right, one of the reasons is because we give up too easily.

Edit, spelling.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

I can't claim to see the problem from an unbiased point of view (being 16 myself), but I think part of the problem is that many kids don't do much more in school than learn how to be popular, and attempt to do just that. They might be getting depressed if/when it doesn't work. Also, I notice that I tend to get depressed when I get bored, so I try to do stuff like learning a programming language, or training my dog, or something else that I can get a sense of accomplishment out of.