isplay poor coping skills, low perceptions of efficacy, pessimism and withdrawal. Such combination of negative emotions may be concomitant of the depressive experience (Herman-Stahl and Petersen 1996). In other words, regardless of its source, stress is the leading cause of mental, otherwise called emotional or nervous, breakdowns, which in return can cause depression. Another highly effective factor of depression is the genetic predisposition. According to Garlson and Hatfield both simple depressive disorders and manic-depressive disorders are genetically transmitted (Garlson and Hatfield 290). Therefore if a teen is genetically predisposed to depressive symptoms, the surrounding society only adds onto the chances of such adolescent becoming mentally depressed. Depression itself, according to Multiscore Depression Inventory, assesses nine components such as low energy, cognitive difficulty, irritability, sad mood, guilt, low self-esteem, social introversion, pessimism and instrumental helplessness (Wilcox and Scatter, 1996). Thus withdrawal from social interaction and alienation of oneself, along with the nine components, is a sign of depression. As stated in The Journal of the American Medical Association, adolescent suicide may be a very different phenomenon than suicide among adults, particularly the elderly. Elderly people who commit suicide seem to be more likely to have a clear and sustained intent to do so. Young people, on the other hand, are impulsive and not particularly skilled in communication (Rosengberg, Mercy, Houk 1991). According to the American Journal of Community Psychology, suicidal rate has gone from 3.6 per 100,000 people in 1960 to 11.3 per 100,000 in 1988, whereas the rates have increased only slightly in the total population (Reifman and Windle 1995). Such high rise in suicide rates was partially influenced by the way suicide is viewed. In the current society, suicide, along with its attempts, is considered an...
