Life is just oh so stressful for teens

The Watchdog

May 5, 2005 Vol. 16 No. 6 C.D. Hylton High School Woodbridge, VA

Life is just oh so stressful for teens

Today’s teens fall to depression and eating disorders

By Heather Gioia and Melissa Thompson

Your two friends are walking down the hallway hand-in-hand. They are a couple now, something you need to get used to. But you know you will never be like them because you are fat, ugly, and miserable.

There are many problems that teenagers are susceptible to today. Some of the most serious problems are depression and eating disorders.

Pressure in school and genetics are two reasons why teens often fall into depression and eating disorders.

Depression
Recent statistics show that one in eight teenagers suffer from depression. There are several things that can be triggers for depression, including self-esteem issues, pressures in school, substance abuse, and possibly genetics.

“I think that a lot of teens are depressed today because we have so much to deal with between school sports and everything else we may need to do. It does not help that the school puts so much pressure on us to pass the SOL’s. The more we have piling up on us, generally means we feel less in control and some of us become upset and depressed. Life is almost too stressful to have,” sophomore Heather Gioia said.

“The most common trigger for depression in teens is low self-esteem,” Laura Magurk, a psychiatrist intern at Hylton, said.

Many people may believe that depression is always linked to suicide, but this is not true. There are several symptoms to look for in a person who may have depression. Some of the warning signs includes fatigue, loss of change in appetite, lack of interest in activities, unhappiness, sleep changes, thoughts of death, extreme sensitivity to negative responses or failure, increased irritability and anger, and frequent complaints of physical illnesses.

“To be diagnosed, you need at least five of the symptoms and they must persist for two weeks,” Magurk said.

There are several methods that are available to help teenagers to cope with depression. One of these methods is medication. Anti-depressants can be prescribed, as well as SSRI’s. SSRI stands for selective serotonin inhibitors. This type of medication balances out the supply of serotonin in your brain, altering your mood so that you are not depressed. The side effects that can come from taking certain medications depend on the person who is taking them.

Another way teenagers can cope with depression is through different types of therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, (CBT), or interpersonal therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy changes the thinking patterns of a person who has depression to help them deal with problems in a more effective way. Interpersonal therapy deals with the relationship you have with the people around you.

Some teenagers are more susceptible to getting depression than others. Heredity is also one reason. Also, if a parent has battled with depression, then his or her child may be more susceptible to obtaining depression.

Some teens just have very poor self-esteems, and do not know how to effectively deal with problems. While some teens have wonderful support systems at home, others do not, which is another reason why some teenagers are more apt to get depression then others are. It is very important for teenagers who have been diagnosed with depression to have a good support system.

“I know I have friends and family that care about me, which makes it easier to deal with problems, “freshmen Amanda Thompson said.

Eating Disorders
There are two main eating disorders prevalent, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, also known as anorexia and bulimia or “binge eating.” People with anorexia are obsessed with being thin, they do not want to eat and they are afraid of gaining weight. Bulimia is much the opposite, bulimia is eating a lot of food at once (binging) and then vomiting or using laxatives to remove the food from the body (purging).

“Bulimia is the [most] prevalent [among teens] because teens find it hard to control their diet and they indulge in fattening foods and then after words they feel ‘fat’, so the force themselves to vomit up their food,” Keysha Johnson, junior, said.

Eating disorders become more prevalent as teens enter high school and start puberty. While eating disorders can occur in males, they tend to not be on purpose. Wrestling is one male dominated sport that has guys constantly watching their weight. Going over weight before a meet means you cannot wrestle and that is points for the other team.

“Well, you [wrestlers] have to make a certain weight of course, but no one takes it to the extreme of becoming anorexic or bulimic. Wrestlers love food, in fact, most wrestlers don’t resort to bulimia and anorexia because after we diet to make weight we pig out until we have to diet again,” sophomore, Joe Scott said.

A female sport that many think requires the perfect body is cheerleading. When most people think of cheerleaders they think of skinny girls, a pure stereotype. “A lot of girls believe that cheerleading is only for ‘skinny’ girls, and that is untrue! So often girls want to be ‘skinny’ and popular so they’ll do whatever to fit in,” Vivian Ellis, Junior on the Varsity cheerleading squad said.

But females are more at risk to develop an eating disorder. Girls find as they start puberty they put on additional body fat, which is completely normal, healthy, and temporary. But with all the perfect bodies the media flaunts, sometimes it is hard for everyone to wonder if they could be skinnier.

Others start eating disorders because they are feeling stressed out or upset about something in their life, or feeling they need to be in control of their lives. “I think teens shouldn’t have self inflicted eating disorders, that’s just sad,” Alex Obenauer, freshmen said reflecting on teenage eating disorders.

Anorexia

With both disorders, fasting and over exercising are common. Anorexics will look in the mirror and see a fat person, in their mind, yet in reality standing in front of the mirror will be a skinny person. Bulimics tend to binge when they are upset or depressed, then purge and fast. Both cycles are dangerous. The effects can be damaging right down to devastating and life threatening. People with at least 15% less then the normal weight for their height may not have enough body fat to keep their organs and other body parts healthy.

Anorexia can do damage to the heart, kidneys, and liver, the body slows everything down as if it were starving, causing a drop in pulse, breath rate, and blood pressure. In young women, starvation may mean that they stop having their periods. People with anorexia feel light headed and find it hard to concentrate due to a lack of energy. They will also have brittle bones, their hair may fall out, their fingernails tend to break off and a soft hair called lanugo grows all over their skin. In severe cases it may lead to severe malnutrition and even death.

*Drops weight to about 20% below normal
*Denise feeling hungry
*Exercises excessively
*Feels fat
*Withdraws from social activities

Bulimia
Bulimia can damage a person’s stomach and kidneys as a result of constant vomiting, cause a person’s teeth to decay from the acids that came up while vomiting, a bulimic may also develop chipmunk checks, developing when saliva glands permanently expand from throwing up so often. Bulimic girls may also stop having their periods. But most dangerous, the constant purging can lead to a loss of the mineral potassium, which can contribute to heart problems and even death.

*Makes excuses to go to the bathroom immediately after eating meals
*Eats huge amounts of food, but doesn’t gain weight
* Uses laxatives or diuretics
*Withdraws from social activities
“Living with bulimia isn’t living at all. Eating disorders take over your life and slowly kill you from the inside out,” Liz Parish, sophomore, said.

Getting Help
Eating disorders are treatable with help of family, friends, and doctors. Because both disorders involve the body and the mind, medical doctors, mental health professionals, and dietitians are often involved in a person’s treatment and recovery. Therapy is a critical part of treating eating disorders, in many cases family therapy is one of the keys to eating healthy again. But the most critical thing about treating an eating disorder is to recognize and address the problem as soon as possible, the longer it takes to recognize them the longer it takes to break it. At worst eating disorders can kill, at best they leave a person feeling and looking terrible.

“I always want to be skinny, like I was, medication added a lot of weight,” Deanne Gioia, now 43 and over coming her eating disorder said. Medication was the key to her success, adding the needed weight. She still says she has not completely overcome her eating disorder.

If you want to talk to someone about eating disorders, and you do not feel comfortable confronting a parent, you can try talking to a neighbor, teacher, guidance, your doctor, or another trusted adult. Eating disorders are common among teens, but remember that treatment is out there.