Anxiety and Depression

Levels of teenage anxiety and depression have gone up tremendously through the decades. Nowadays, you can pretty much walk up to any high school student and it is likely a safe bet that they will agree that they have issues with anxiety and/or depression. By the time people reach 12-13 of age, 30% of us have depression and/or anxiety issues. Anxiety is a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks. Depression is constant feelings of severe loneliness and low spirits. Put together, the two can literally kill you. While teen depression and anxiety issues are arise, so is teen suicide. The two are definitely connected. When someone is battling themselves with the chronic urge to put an end to the pain and suffering, they will find a way, whether it be a pleasant one or not. It is a clear sign that something’s wrong when something this saddening and uncomfortable happens so frequently that there are constantly memes and jokes based on it. We shouldn’t be so comfortable, so quick to make jokes about people our age hating themselves, regretting being themselves, and killing themselves. We shouldn’t be so comfortable with hearing, telling, or going along with suicidal jokes. Can we go back to a much simpler time? The time when we said what we meant and could take each other seriously without being frightened of losing a family member or a friend, which in turn involves losing a part of yourself. These jokes can be told even with all the best intentions, but they could easily also include a much deeper, darker, more secretive earnestness. Next time someone jokingly threatens to kill themselves, maybe take a second of your day to make sure it was ‘jokingly’