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sheepskin
Starting Member
4 Posts |
 Posted - 09/22/2005 : 23:36:56
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CBS NEWS
Teens: Sex, Drugs And Depression?
Sept. 20, 2005
Depression may be the result rather than the cause of risky teen behaviors.
A new study shows that teen sex or drug use raised the risk of depression a year later.
Researchers say the results challenge the notion that teens become sexually active or engage in drug use to "self-medicate" their own depression.
"Findings from the study show depression came after substance and sexual activity, not the other way around," says researcher Denise Dion Hallfors of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, in a news release.
Sex, Drugs Come First and Depression Follows
In the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed data from a national survey of more than 13,000 teenagers in grades seven to 11 who were interviewed in 1995 and again a year later.
Overall, the results showed that sex and drug use was associated with an increased risk of depression by the second interview, but depression didn't predict risky behavior.
Researchers say both drug experimentation and sexual activity were linked to an increased risk of future depression in teenaged girls. Among teenage boys, only high-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking, were associated with an increase in future depression.
For example:
Girls who had experimented with drugs and sex were two to three times more likely to become depressed than those who abstained.
Boys who used marijuana were more than three times as likely to become depressed as nonusers.
Boys who engaged in binge drinking were nearly five times more likely to become depressed than abstainers.
Depression Still Raises Risks
Though depression did not influence risky behavior among teenaged boys, researchers found depression was related to behavior in some cases among teenage girls.
Specifically, depression reduced the likelihood of high-risk behavior among girls who abstained from drug and alcohol use but increased the risk of these behaviors among girls already experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
"For females, even modest involvement in substance use and sexual experimentation elevates depression risk," write the researchers. "In contrast, boys show little added risk with experimental behavior, but binge drinking and frequent use of marijuana contribute substantial risk."
Researchers say the results show that experimentation with substance use and sex, along with other factors, such as dropping grades in school and social isolation, can be signs of depression in teenagers that parents and health care professionals should look out for.
Identifying Teen Depression
Young people with depression may have a hard time coping with everyday activities and responsibilities, have difficulty getting along with others, and suffer from low self-esteem.
Depression is more than just having the "blues" now and then; it is a persistent condition.
Here are some signs and symptoms of depression to look out for:
Frequent sadness, tearfulness, or crying
Hopelessness
Decreased interest in activities or inability to enjoy former favorite activities
Persistent boredom; low energy
Social isolation; poor communication
Low self-esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
Difficulty with relationships
Frequent complaints of physical illness such as headaches and stomachaches
Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school
Poor concentration
A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns
Talk of or efforts to run away from home
Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self-destructive behavior
Source Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/20/health/webmd/printable870398.shtml  |
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| Heatherzed
Full Member (100+ posts)
241 Posts
Gratitude: 5
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Posted - 11/29/2005 : 05:07:26
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Well, I experimented with drugs and alcohol in my late teens and I don't think it did me any favours, although I can't lay it totally to blame for the way I have become later in life.
I think that I DID do it to self-medicate my own depression, though, with hindsight. So, I would not agree with the survey. But, I guess I did not really experiment until my late teens - 17 onwards - and that is quite late nowadays to start this kind of stuff, so I would not be an average, representative case.
The depression definitely came before the drug abuse in my case, as I can recall being depressed to the point of isolating myself from friends and family and doing nothing but lie in my bed in my room, from as young as 13.
I never engaged in risky sexual behaviour, though! I don't think they should group the two things together, as, although they can be connected, one doesn't necessarily lead to the other.
I think they should do separate surveys for both things. |
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Depression result of drugs/alcohol
hi my name is terri. i am bipolar! i have done drugs for on and off for over 16yrs. i never did them because i suffer deppression thats a butch of poop. people do drugs because they want to. think about this?,you suffer deppression and your going to do drugs that will give u more deppression that does not make sense. people use "i suffer deppression so i used drugs" get over it and stop using that as a anexcuse. thats what i had to learn from everyone. u use drugs because u want to!
