A friend of mine recently wrote on his Facebook, “(I just can’t take it anymore)…I can literally feel my brain turning to mush…I wanted to cry but I leaned back and stared into the stars…”

Not every teen who goes through mood swings suffers from depression, but the figures are alarming. The age group that’s most susceptible is the 10-24 year olds. Suicide rates for this group have increased three-fold since 1997, making it the third leading cause of death.

As a high-schooler in the 21st century, I have witnessed the many debilitating effects teenagers suffer as a result of depression.

I have known many, many friends who have slashed their wrists. I have known friends who have starved themselves until they are only skin and bones. I have known friends to be diagnosed with clinical depression. What has happened? What transformed our youth from wide-eyed, precocious kids to hollow-eyed children with dark thoughts floating in their heads? Are we feeding our children despair and disappointment before they have even left their parents?

Predisposition to depression can be due to genes. But with the recent increased rate, it is apparent something more than mere biochemical factors influence this condition. Our society has gotten much more fast-paced, resulting in teens cramming several things into their schedule, making them feel stressed out and overwhelmed.

With high expectations, teens don’t get enough sleep. Children and teens need about 10 hours of sleep each night to function properly. Yet many teens–especially high schoolers–are getting less than six hours. Denying youth sleep will only contribute to a vicious cycle where students find it hard to concentrate during class and attempt to cram their brains with information at night, only to get more frustrated with themselves for not being “smart” enough. How can we expect students to be mentally healthy if they’re not even physically healthy?

Furthermore, many of the industries in today’s societies thrive on creating needs so that they can “fix” them. They claim that in order to succeed in life, one needs to have perfectly white teeth, have flawlessly voluminous hair, and have various assortments of perfumes and odor neutralizers in their homes. It’s no wonder that youth feel the pressure to pursue the ever-unattainable goal of being perfect.

Many times, parents unknowingly place additional pressure on their children. Some parents attempt to live through their offspring, hoping that their children will be everything that they weren’t. In addition, the stressors on youth have changed. Parents sometimes cannot relate to the stresses faced by their children, which are different from those of their generation.

Our society wants to better prepare our youth for the rigors of the real world by pressuring them to take massive responsibilities, and to take on outrageous workloads. And yet, it seems self-defeating to expose children to the raw, cruel face of the world before they have even begun to fully appreciate its beautiful, compassionate side.