10 Reasons Why Female Adolescent Students are More Prone to Depression

Teen depression is a serious mental health problem, it occurs in both sexes, but during adolescence, a young girl is more likely to be diagnosed with it. Below are the reasons why young female students are more prone to depression.

1. Puberty

Estrogen levels increase dramatically in girls during adolescence. They begin to release estrogen in coordination with their monthly menstrual cycle. They feel a change in the body that causes irritability, fatigue, and mood disorders that occur during women’s premenstrual syndrome.

Physical development during puberty may contribute to depression among adolescents since their body undergoes many changes in which they feel uncomfortable and they become overly sensitive about their physical appearance.

2. Stressful Life Events

Some female adolescent students are more prone to depression as a result of stressful life events. Young girls tend to suffer more from depression during a stressful event because they are more sensitive than men, they sometimes find it difficult to manage and they overthink too much. Stressful life events, either positive or negative can still affect one’s mental health which sometimes leads to depression.

3. Social Media

Female adolescent students spend most of their time in social media, browsing, posting, texting, and interacting with friends are things they usually do. Social Media is a great tool to interact and connect with friends, however, it also lowers self-esteem which can lead to depression. Sometimes young girls feel the fear of losing an experience they usually see on social media, they are forced to do something, and most of the time they want to do things just to keep up with the trend.

4. Pregnancy

Unintended pregnancy of adolescent students is sometimes one of the reasons for depression. Teenage mothers are more likely to experience poor maternal mental health which triggers depression. Unwanted pregnancy and unprepared motherhood sometimes deal with postpartum depressions which includes guilt, the feeling of worthlessness, and shame.

5. Sexual or Physical Abuse

Being abused at any stage of life can lead to health issues. One of the most severe types of abuse is sexual abuse or physical abuse, it can be experienced by anyone, but more often by women. Teenagers who have experienced sexual or physical abuse are more likely to experience depression. It causes them trauma and a sense of worthlessness, they were embarrassed and felt like they were alone.

6. Relationships

One of the reasons why teenage girls get depressed is because of unhealthy relationships. Toxic friendships, parenting, as well as toxic intimate relationships are factors that contribute to teenage depression. Young girls who frequently interact and hang out with friends who only bring negative vibes and thought can affect mental health. Aside from toxic friendships, entering into an intimate relationship at such a young age could also affect mental health since they are not yet quite capable of handling such a relationship and sometimes they aren’t too serious about it.

7. Academic Performance

Academic performance is also linked to depression. Young girls put too much pressure to get high academic performance, they spend so much time studying that they sometimes forget to take care of their health. They are afraid of what others might say when getting low academic performance, they distance themselves from things that can interfere with their learning, and forget to have a social life.

8. Lifestyles

Lifestyles can also influence depression, it affects mental health and emotional health as well. Poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and unhealthy diets are factors that can contribute to depression. Young girls tend to force themselves to an unhealthy diet due to some insecurities which sometimes lead to depression. Young girls are much more conscious of their physical appearance that’s why they follow such an unhealthy lifestyle just to be comfortable with their looks.

9. Eating Disorders

Eating disorders affect women more commonly than men. Anorexia and bulimia are some of the types of eating disorders that cause depression in some women. Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an extreme fear of gaining weight while bulimia is characterized by having no sense of control over the eating, afterwards, they try to lose weight in unhealthy ways. These types of eating disorders severely affect the mental and emotional health of women and sometimes could lead to depression.

10. Sexism

Sexism is gender-based discrimination, especially against women and girls. Sexism can be a belief that one gender is more or less important than another. Young women who experience sexism are more likely to suffer from depression.