Rosselott 1

Skye Rosselott

Edu Psy

Dr. Bielek

19 April 2020

Effects of Depression on Learning, Academic Performance, and Social Interaction

Depression defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a mood disorder marked

especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration…”. Depression can tear

apart an individual’s life and completely change it. Depression, and its symptoms, can be all-

consuming and make different parts of life increasingly difficult. This is especially true when it

comes to an individual’s education and relationships with those around them. The symptoms of

depression lead to negative effects on an individual’s learning, academic performance, and

social interaction.

Depression can be caused by a variety of factors in a person’s life sometimes these

factors are situational, like when an individual loses a job or a loved one. Whereas other times

they are chemical, when there is a chemical imbalance in the brain. But no matter what is

causing an individual’s depression it is still problematic and difficult to handle even when going

through treatment. Depression affects all aspects of an individual’s life, and some areas are hit

harder than others. Often for “...many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe

enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities, such as work, school, social

activities or relationships with others” (Depression). These disruptions, even when barely

noticeable, can have a profound impact on a person’s life. Some aspects of the individual’s life,

and sometimes even all, can be entirely neglected or dropped altogether because of the

individual’s suffering. Depression where it affects so many different aspects of a person’s life it

also affects many different people.

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This mental illness is more common than people would think, approximately “17.3 million

American adults, or about 7.1% of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year”

(Depression Statistics) are affected by depression. These are only the cases that are treated

and documented, but since depression is not a ‘one size fits all’ disease many cases could go

untreated or even undetected for what it is. This mental illness varies in severity and also type,

some types of depression can eventually go away on their own. While other types last the

entirety of a person’s life and are always a struggle to deal with. Depression is also not limited to

adults, depression can also affect children around “1.9 million children, [ages] 3 – 17, have

diagnosed depression” (Depression Statistics). Depression in children can cause serious

negative effects on their future when considering the symptoms of depression. These symptoms

can affect their schooling and social life which can have lasting impacts and effects long into

adulthood.

Depression can show itself in different ways in young children and teens, but one thing

that the two groups have in common are the attitudes they may have with school. Young

children may “[refuse] to go to school” (Depression) and teens may have “poor performance or

poor attendance at school” (Depression). Academic performance is important in a child’s life

because it sets them up for their future. This makes school attendance a crucial part of a young

person’s life. Without attending school it is almost a given at one point or another, without

proper instruction, the child could fall behind. Whether that is just a high school diploma or going

off to college. And according to a study conducted by Pittsburg State University, students with

depression have “...poorer academic performance when compared to students who do not”

(Anxiety, Depression, and Academic Performance). This recorded decline in academic

performance in comparison to their peers could be for a multitude of reasons. Clearly children

refusing to attend school is not the only problem that depression causes for them when it comes

to their learning and academic performance.

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Motivation is greatly impacted by depression, motivation is a crucial part of an

individual’s education. Motivated students tend to work much harder and do better than those

students who are not motivated. According to a study conducted in 2015 looking at motivation in

depressed individuals, the researchers said: “motivation deficits in depressed individuals may

lead to impaired performance in cognitive tasks“ (The influence of depression on cognitive

control). Impaired performance in cognitive tasks means that although an individual may

participate the performance of their work would not be to the same level to those around them

that are more motivated to complete the task. The researchers of the same study also stated

that “depressive pathology has been linked to executive deficits, including impaired cognitive

control, which can be defined as the ability to regulate thoughts and action to achieve internal

goals” (The influence of depression on cognitive control). Internal goals could also be

considered intrinsic motivation, where there is no need for outside incentives to complete a task

rather the motivation is the individual getting their own satisfaction from the activity itself.

Intrinsic motivation is not the only type of motivation that can be affected by depression.

Depression can also impact how the individual views extrinsic motivation, they can experience a

“loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities” (Depression). This could include

hobbies or even no longer being passionate about a subject they may have loved in the past.

This can lead to the individual experiencing amotivation, which is “a complete lack of any intent

to act-no engagement at all” (Educational Psychology). No engagement in classes or activities

would clearly lead to the poor performance of the student within a class or all their classes.

Along with no longer having the motivation to participate, the students learning and academic

performance suffer.

Those who are suffering from depression may also have “feelings of worthlessness or

guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame” (Depression). The fixation on past failures,

especially when these failures occur with the person’s learning and academic performance, can

lead the individual to have a sense of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness can prevent
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these individuals from trying in the future, this only further causes negative effects on their

learning and academic performance. These individuals can easily become failure-avoiding

students, only feeling as smart as the last test grade they received and basing their view of

themselves on that basis (Educational Psychology). But with their sense of learned

helplessness and desire to stay in the comfort zone of what they know these individuals are

likely to continue to find the failure they have worked to avoid. Eventually leading to them

becoming failure-accepting students. Once these individuals have accepted the fact that they

truly believe there is little hope for a change it can be “very difficult to reverse the effects”

(Educational Psychology).

An individual’s thinking skills can also be affected by depression, like their attention and

memory. Dr. Farrell quoted in an article published by Harvard Health Publishing said that

“people who are depressed have trouble staying on task” (How depression affects your thinking

skills). Researchers may not be entirely sure as to why depression affects the attention of the

individual suffering, “but there is a correlation between the two” (How depression affects your

thinking skills). Without being about to focus attention and stay on task completing work

assignments or activities can be difficult, which could lead an individual to easily give up when

combined with a lack of motivation. Memory is also an important part of learning and academic

performance that is affected by depression. Memory loss with depression is a fairly common

symptom, depression in some cases can even cause short term memory loss (How depression

affects your thinking skills) which would work against an individual when trying to learn new

material or retrieve memories of old material to apply to the task at hand.

Where depression can negatively impact learning and academic performance in different

ways also negatively impacts social interaction between the individual suffering and those

around them. In a study conducted in 2019 looking at how individuals with depression exhibit

social avoidance, researchers recorded how individuals picked between individual options or

group options when playing a game. At the end of conducting the research, the researchers
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found that “depressed participants chose the individual option significantly more often than

controls, which led to lower gains in this group” (Social avoidance in depression). The controls

in this study were individuals that were not suffering from depression, showing that individuals

with depression have a higher tendency to avoid social interactions. Social interactions are not

only an important part of a person’s social life, but can also be a crucial part of learning. The two

connect often and even in nonacademic settings a person can learn a lot from their peers.

Avoidance of social interactions can lead to social impairment because of a lack of social

understanding. Social understanding can be things like knowing when it is the other person’s

turn to speak, or a type of adaptive learning of emotions that help people connect with those

around them. This can pose many issues because “humans are fundamentally social, and

perhaps never more so than in adolescence” (The Lasting Effects of Social Isolation in

Adolescence). Social interactions are an important part of an individual’s life, some theories on

learning suggest people learn from interactions with those around them. But social interactions

are more than just ways in which a person can learn, relationships with others can affect what a

person participates in or what they avoid to the best of their ability. Social impairment can have

many consequences, one of these being peer rejection.

Peer rejection can affect children, teens, and adults alike. Especially those who are

suffering from depression. Peer rejection can increase the “feelings of sadness, tearfulness,

emptiness or hopelessness” (Depression) that an individual with depression suffers from on a

regular basis. This increase in the symptoms of this disease can cause those suffering to

continue to avoid social interactions which only furthers the negative impact depression causes.

Peer rejection because of impaired social interactions can also impact academics for those

suffering from both peer rejection and depression.

Peer rejection can cause the individual suffering to have difficulties in school, this only

adds on to the effects that depression itself has on academic performance and learning. Peer

“rejected children are less likely to participate in classroom learning activities” (Educational
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Psychology). This of course leads to their achievement in school suffering on top of them having

problems connecting with those around them. Having solid relationships with the people around

an individual with depression is incredibly important. Solid relationships with the people around

them provide a support system for the individual that is suffering and can help them to not

become more consumed by the disease that plagues them. But this is not easy with the affects

depression has on social interaction.

Social interaction, learning, and academic performance are huge parts of an individual’s

life. These aspects can build an individual up or tear them down, adding depression to the

difficulty that already exists with these things can be troublesome. Individuals with depression

can often suffer in silence while the things around them seemingly fall apart. The negative

impacts of depression on social interaction, learning, and academic performance are huge, but

there is hope. With the proper treatment and intervention those who are suffering from

depression can get the help and guidance that they need in order to succeed in every aspect of

their life no matter if they have a diagnosis of depression or not. But treatment and intervention

are not enough, those suffering with depression need support and encouragement to help them

defeat the challenges depression brings and succeed.

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Works Cited

Denworth, L. (2019, September 17). The Lasting Effects of Social Isolation in Adolescence. Retrieved

from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/201909/the-lasting-effects-social-

isolation-in-adolescence

Depression. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/depression

Depression (major depressive disorder). (2018, February 3). Retrieved from

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-

20356007

Depression Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.dbsalliance.org/education/depression/statistics/
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Harvard Health Publishing. (2017, May). How depression affects your thinking skills.

Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/depression/how-depression-affects-your-

thinking-skills

Hoy, A. W. (2019). Educational psychology (14th ed.). New York: Pearson

Huang, H., Movellan, J., Paulus, M. P., & Harle, K. M. (2015). The influence of

depression on cognitive control: disambiguating approach and avoidance tendencies.

PLoS ONE, 10(11). Retrieved from https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A435601894/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=879559cb

FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience NewsPsychology·June 9, 2018. (2018, June 9).

How Depression Affects Your Thinking Skills. Retrieved from

https://neurosciencenews.com/depression-thinking-skills-9297/

Fernández-Theoduloz, G., Paz, V., Nicolaisen-Sobesky, E., Pérez, A., Buunk, A. P.,

Cabana, Á., & Gradin, V. B. (2019). Social avoidance in depression: A study using a

social decision-making task. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(3), 234–244.

https://doi-org.sinclair.ohionet.org/10.1037/abn0000415

Taylor, Megan; Ruhl, Kimberly; and Park, Hyejoon, "Anxiety, Depression and Academic

Performance" (2019). Posters. 53. https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/posters_2019/53