Teen Depression
My group for The Teen Brain Health project was Teen Depression, my group members: Jose Gutierrez, Sofianna Sanchez and Matthew Herrera all worked together to develop unique products that advocate for depression.Throughout this project I have developed many skills that have made me a better advocate for teen brain health. I have gained plenty of knowledge about Teen Depression, through reading the book The Depression Cure by Stephen S. Illardi and by researching on my own. I think everyone should understand that depression isn’t something you can “snap out” of. Depression can make life unbearable and painful, the thing is that because outsiders cannot physically see them hurting, people with depression are seen as lazy when in reality they are in agony.
There are so many factors that can contribute to being depressed, such as Isolation, not getting enough physical activity or being involved in activities, not getting enough sunlight, and even not consuming enough omega 3 fatty acids can contribute. The book I read this semester is about a 6 step program called Therapeutic Lifestyle Change, it talks about omega 3 and omega 6. These two molecules work in harmony when balanced, modern diets have a ratio of 16:1 because livestock is now fed on seeds(omega 6). When our brains lack omega 3 fatty acids the neurotransmitters for serotonin have trouble understanding the purpose of said chemical which leads to a massive loss of serotonin function which causes us to become more vulnerable to stress. Dopamine- Same case as serotonin it just has a different effect on our brains which is reduced activity on the left frontal cortex. The left frontal cortex is important because it is responsible to put us in a good mood and push us to pursue the things we want. The connection between omega 3 and depressive behavior is that as mentioned above the malfunction of serotonin neurotransmitters causes us to stress and ruminate about the same things over and over again. The part of dopamine causes us to shift our perspective into an extremely negative path and makes us lack motivation or lose interest in activities that were once enjoyed. |