Ever wonder what would the most comprehensive (the longest running study to date) on adolescent depression? Antideperesant alone not enough, use talk therapy. That’s right, talking cure for depression called cognitive behavior therapy appears to cancel the risk of suicidal thinking. See the report in NYT.
In the recent months, as the harmful side effects of popular antidepressant drug became more obvious, more stringent legal measures are being enforced (e.g. labeling). But with growing depression cases among youth (even church kids have it, though many are still in denial), study results like this suggest that even mere chemail drug cannot compleltly eliminate mental problems. Social interactions, family dynamics, friendship, community, sprituality etc helps the state of the mind.
Immigrant children are particularly succeptible to depression as a result of acute sense of marginlization, what I call as double marginalization in the Coconut Book, both on account of ethnicity and generation. They are neither here nor there. There is often no single place that they belong to entirely, which creates a crisis of belonging among them. Many fall through the cracks,when they are not able to establish abiding and trusting relationships.
We are made for relationships. Without meaningful relationships we’ll never who we are and what we were made for. It is in the context of relationality that we discover our true self, not as a result of our accomplishments and self perception. Ultimately we are made for relationship with the divine – a relationship with which every other relationships finds its place and everything in my life finds its rightful place. I truely know myself and there is no fear in being known.
Coconut Generation 