Running Head: Depression in Adolescents

Depression in Adolescents
Madison MacDonald
Ocean Lakes High School

WHAT I KNEW/WANTED TO KNOW

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Twilight author Stephenie Meyer best captures the teenage experience when she says, I
think being a teenager is such a compelling time period in your life--it gives you some of your
worst scars and some of your most exhilarating moments. It's a fascinating place; old enough to
feel truly adult, old enough to make decisions that affect the rest of your life, old enough to fall
in love, yet, at the same time too young (in most cases) to be free to make a lot of those decisions
without someone else's approval. Teenage years are some of the best and worst times of a
persons life. Having said that, teens these days have much more to both enjoy and worry about
than ever before. Statistics state that 20% of teenagers will experience depression before
reaching adulthood. In 2014, 2.8 million adolescents from the age of 12 to 17 experienced at
least one episode of depression in the past year.
Before researching, I had a good understanding of this specific topic, being diagnosed
myself. Depression is a recurring mental illness in my family, especially on my mothers side. I
have gone to therapy for clinical depression, so I understand what it is on a level of how it affects
a person that is diagnosed. Having this experience with the condition, it lead me to my research
question, what is the cause of depression and how does being an adolescent impact the chance of
experiencing it?
While I had plenty of ideas for a topic, I believed that once I thought of this topic, it
would be not only enlightening for myself personally, but also for other people. It is worthy of
research because of the increasing prevalence it has in our society. People of all ages experience
depression, and the statistics of it are only getting higher. Understanding the illness itself, and
what the proposed cause of it is may help treat or prevent it. Many people may not even know
that they may have some symptoms, and they have no idea how to get rid of the negative feelings
or experiences they are having. While there is medication for depression, it may not always help.

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There are many different prescriptions because every persons case is specific to them, making it
hard to completely treat a society. With more research on this topic, I believe that we may be able
to find a universal cure.
THE SEARCH
Researching this topic is quite a complex task. This is because simply having a basic
understanding of the brain is a very difficult thing. To start my research, I simply googled what
causes depression. I was very happy to find an article on the Harvard website, that while it was
extremely difficult to understand, it was extremely helpful. The article really gave me a good
idea about the topic I was researching, despite being extremely in depth. It helped me find other
sources, and also helped to start the foundation of my understanding. Reading through the
article, What Causes Depression, I realized there were lot of terms that I didnt understand so I
started a glossary to keep throughout the whole process of researching which built up to 8
definitions as well other terms throughout my posts. After the first post, I just started to define
terms in my posts, instead of typing them into a separate post.
Next, I found an even more complicated article from Harvard. I was very relieved to find
so many different posts from websites like Harvard, because I didnt need to doubt the
credibility. Since I am researching depression in adolescents, I tried to find articles that were
related to my personal problems. For my next surf session, I was trying to find a site to explain
the correlation between stress and depression. I once again had a difficulty understanding the
terms that were used, but when I understood all of the vocabulary, it was like the puzzle came
together, and I felt really inspired to discover more about this topic. Because it is still being
researched, I found many different opinions and theories and it excited me to see that so many

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people in the science community were doing experiments to try and figure out the exact thing I
am researching, because it showed me that I wasnt the only one concerned about this.
A week later, I read a short article on a science magazine site about how school
influences stress. Reading how severe some situations get was slightly frightening, but it
definitely made me want to find a proposed solution even more. It helped to show that problems
in young peoples lives arent different in other areas. I enjoyed reading both the statistics and
also the real situations that have occurred in the US. While the article was short, I felt a much
deeper understanding as a result of reading it. This is because the educational articles gave me a
more scientific understanding, but this site helped me see the emotional side of the topic I am
researching. My topic is very important to myself, but also other people, and we need to find a
solution soon.
I soon realized that I really needed to look up the different parts of the brain, I simply
searched the brain for kids. While slightly less scientific, it helped me very much to get a basic
understanding of all the parts of the brain and what each part did. The site I found gave the broad
functions of all the parts, and it helped me see how each section of the brain may play a part in
the intricate details of depression and what influences it.
Finally, needing more information for my paper, my light bulb went off about another
major problem in our lives. Everyone I know feels that they do not get enough sleep. Personally,
I know that when I dont get enough sleep, I feel fatigued and irritable. So, of course that should
be related to depression. My logic was that if depression is a constant state of feeling down and
exhausted, then those who never get a good nights rest will be more susceptible. I found an
article that was very fascinating to me because it was an explanation about an experiment that

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was done at a university. It really captivated my attention because it was an activity that was
going on in the scientific community and showed that professionals are as curious about this as I
am.
Unfortunately, my time management for this paper was not very efficient. Because of this
lack of effort, I was not able to get in contact with a professional in time. I was slightly
disheartened by not getting a reply from my professional, mostly because I had a personal
connection with the person I was contacting. I was hoping to get a realistic point of view on the
things that I was reading about, but it did not hinder my research as much as it couldve. That
being said, had I known in enough time that she would not reply, I couldve found a more
immediate source. I had a backup, but I did not contact them since I was depending on the
original person I had emailed.
THE RESULTS
I found out a lot when researching this topic just because the brain itself is so detailed and
adding depression to the mix makes it even more elaborate. Depression isn't as simple as just a
chemical imbalance; lots of things like stressful events, medication, genetics, or faulty mood
regulation by the brain can cause depression. Because thousands of chemicals make up the little
section of your brain for things like how you perceive life or mood, two people could have the
same symptoms but completely different ideal treatments.While scientists have made great
advancements in this particular science, we've still only scratched the surface. They have
discovered the genes that deal with being vulnerable to low moods and drug treatments, but are
still unable to individualize treatments. Not being able to specialize each treatments seems
unimportant, but every situation is different and many people don't respond well to

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antidepressants because the drugs aren't unique to them but hopefully, in the future, they will be.
Researchers believe that depression is less about the chemicals in the brain and more about the
nerve cells and their growth, connections, and function. Scientists and doctors can use things like
PET, SPECT, and fMRIs to look at activity in the brain to lead them to more answers about
depression. Positron emission tomography(PET) - uses a radioactive drug(tracer) to light up
areas of the body with excess level of chemical activity, which normally correspond to diseased
areas. Single-photon emission computerized tomography-(SPECT) - uses a radioactive substance
and a special camera to basically give an x-ray of your organs. Functional magnetic resonance
imaging(fMRI) - uses imaging technique developed by Seiji Ogawa (BOLD) to detect changes in
blood flow. Uses the fact that neuronal activity is partnered with blood flow. With these scans,
we are able to look at the parts of the brain that depression effects like memory. 3
The brain has five major parts, the cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem, pituitary gland, and
the hypothalamus. The Cerebrum is 85% of the brain and deals with voluntary movement and
thinking as well as short and long term memory. It has two halves and scientists believe that the
right side is more abstract, music and art, while the left is more analytical, math and science. The
right side controls the left side of your body, and the left controls the right. The Cerebellum
which deals with balance and coordination, on the other hand, is about 1/8 the size and is behind
and below the Cerebrum. The brain stem is below the Cerebellum, and connects the brain to your
spine. 5 It controls involuntary but necessary movement like breathing, blinking, and blood
circulation. The Pituitary Gland controls hormone release, which is why our body grows and
goes through puberty and also controls the amount of sugar and water in the body, keeping your
metabolism going. The Hypothalamus is like an internal thermostat, it controls sweating and

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shivering when your body temperature is to high or low. Lastly, the Amygdala is believed to be
responsible for emotions. 5
Areas of the brain affected by depression are the Amygdala, Thalamus, and the
Hippocampus. The regions often interact with each other during high stress times due to the
recollection of memories. In addition, the neurotransmissions between the parts are decreased
and cause a gap in the brains neurons or synapses.4 The communications between the neurons
can therefore become oversensitive or insensitive to a specific neurotransmitter, causing their
response to its release to be excessive or inadequate causing a change in mood. Researchers
have discovered that in some depressed people, the hippocampus is smaller. Some people believe
that stress can suppress the production of neurons in the hippocampus. and the smaller the
hippocampus, the more moments of depression. Antidepressant medication supports this, since it
increases the amount of neurotransmitters. But, even with this people don't feel better right away.
A theory is that mood improves as nerves grow and form new connections, which takes a long
time to do. So, the new technique needed for medication is to increase neurons and connects,
promoting neurogenesis. 3,4
According to Merriam Webster, depression is defined as a state of feeling sad: a serious
medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often is
unable to live in a normal way: a period of time in which there is little economic activity and
many people do not have jobs. Harvard Medical Publications took an in depth look at the
condition and revealed that the condition is not so easily defined. Depression is not only a
fluctuation of chemicals in the brain but also physical changes as well.

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There has been additional research presented that suggested that genetics can cause
depression as well. The genetic code makes proteins involved in biological processes. If the code
is compromised due to stress, the proteins can alter your biology causing depressive states. The
genetic code determines a persons reaction to stressful situations, when compromised, those 4
reactions are skewed and the behavior is changed. The studies support the belief that people
with this atypical DNA sequence are more likely to have major depression than those
who dont, thus promoting the idea that depression runs in families. Additionally, genetic
disorders such as thyroid hormone imbalances can trigger manic or depressive episodes.
Therefore, medical issues have a link to depression as well.

The changes from stress are not only evident in the brain but the body as well; the longer the
stress continues, the more extreme these changes become. We all have patterned responses to real
or perceived threats. These real or perceived threats cause your body to trigger a cascade of stress
hormones that produce physiological changes; for example, the fight or flight response in
stressful situations. In some cases, cortisol levels rise too often or simply stay high. This rise in
cortisol levels can contribute to problems such as high blood pressure, immune suppression,
asthma, and possibly depression.

Physical changes are not only genetic but also environmentally caused ; for example, some
people are depressed during holiday seasons. This fluctuated version of depression is known as
seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Some people may see more depressive states during winter
seasons where the sunlight hours are decreased, while others due to sleep interruption or an out

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of sync body clock. When the production of melatonin during sleep is interrupted or decreased,
these chemical changes in the brain can also lead to depression. 4
People with depression have poor sleep, seasonal affective disorder may also be linked
with sleep amount. SAD is a type of depression that occurs during the same season each year.
Scientists studied a family that all had sleeping mood disorders to see if they had a similar
mutation in their genes. The circadian clock may also play a part in those with SAD and/or
advanced sleep phase, there were two variants on the PERIOD 3(PER 3) gene. Advanced sleep
phase is when a person goes to sleep early and wakes up early.
We found a genetic change in people who have both seasonal affective disorder and the
morning lark trait says lead researcher Ying-Hui Fu, a neuroscientist at UC San Francisco. Fu
and her team did an experiment; making mice with the same variations on the PER 3 gene, they
showed typical signs of depression and had irregular sleep patterns.
People with SAD had low amounts of PER2, a protein that helps with the circadian clock.
Fu says this supports the link between the PER3 mutations and both sleep and mood. PER3s
role in mood regulation has never been demonstrated directly before, she says. Our results
indicate that PER3 might function in helping us adjust to seasonal changes, by modifying the
bodys internal clock. They continued and studied mice without a functional PER3 gene and they
showed signs of severe depression in the hours that light was reduced in the lab. Although SAD
is rare (2-9% of people in the world) it may help understand other mood disorders and how sleep
relates to them. 2
The treatment of depression is vast and ever changing, the medications available are
designed to address numerous chemical changes in the brain. That being said, the ever changing

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chemistry of the brain due to stress and genetics make the medications obsolete and ineffective.
Thus, the treatment of depression is an ongoing evaluation of physical changes in the body.
Chronic stress is the response to emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period over
which an individual perceives he or she has no control. Stress can be a good thing but too much
is a bad thing; it can injure both physical and mental wellbeing. Almost half of all teens, 45%,
said they were stressed by school pressures. 1
MY GROWTH AS A RESEARCHER
This assignment, also this class overall, has really helped me grow as a researcher, a
student, and as a person. This has really taught me that while right now I may not see the point of
having deadlines and making posts, in the future I will really appreciate my previous work. Since
it is the end of the year, I put off finishing these assignments, which in turn stressed me out in the
long run. This feeling helped me get myself together for the start of my junior year, to always
trust my teacher and follow deadlines. I really learned how to tszuj my papers because of this
class, which is a very useful skill. In the future for research papers, I think using a blog would be
very helpful in managing my time and making the process of writing the actual paper much
easier.
In terms of my future, this really helped me steer myself in the right direction. It showed
me that I truly do have an interest in psychology and I definitely want to try and solve the
problems that we have these days in this field of science. I could see myself definitely going into
this field to do experimentation to try and discover new things. But, I also want to go into the
medical field, so that path is still open in my mind. I really enjoyed being able to freely explore a
topic of my choice to discover what I want to do in the future.

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Works Cited
1. School Stress Takes A Toll On Health, Teens And Parents Say. NPR.
[accessed 2016 May 22]. http://www.npr.org/sections/healthshots/2013/12/02/246599742/school-stress-takes-a-toll-on-health-teens-andparents-say
2. Scientists identify molecular link between sleep and mood. 2016.
Science. [accessed 2016 Jun 2].
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/scientists-identify-molecular-linkbetween-sleep-and-mood
3. What causes depression? - Harvard Health. Harvard Health. [accessed
2016 Apr 12]. http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causesdepression
4. What causes depression? - Harvard Health. Harvard Health. [accessed

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2016 Apr 30]. http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/what-causesdepression-2.htm
5. Your Brain & Nervous System. KidsHealth - the Web's most visited
site about children's health. [accessed 2016 Jun 2].
http://kidshealth.org/en/kids/brain.html