Teen Psychology Article

Marano, H. (2005). “Teens: Suburban Blues.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200503/teens-suburban-blues.

Money does not equal happiness. This cliché is true when you are discussing young adults. The article “Teens: Suburban Blues” discusses how children growing up in affluence have a multitude of adjustment problems that are often overlooked. Affluent suburban teenagers are more likely to smoke more, drink more, and use hard drugs more. These factors are lead by a higher rate of anxiety and depression. All of these problems start around the 7th grade. Most of the use is due to achievement pressures. The teenagers see their achievement failures as personal failures, which to them means they didn’t measure up, and this will lead to depression. Another factor is isolation. The demands of the parents’ own professional careers erode family time, and the teenagers are shuffled from activity to activity. This causes the teenagers to lose the bond they had with their parents. The lack of communication between the parents and teenagers allow for problems to go unnoticed. According to the article, even when problems are noticed, they are overlooked due to embarrassment. Neither the parents nor the teenager wants to ask for help because it will make them look as though they don’t have it all together. The appearance is more important. All three of these factors lead teenagers to make choices that can hurt their bodies. The answer to this problem is very simple but hard for some families to achieve. Do not over schedule you life, be aware of a competitive lifestyle, and dinner at the table is a must for communication.
I selected this article because of where I teach. We have many affluent teenagers in my school. This article gave me some insight into my students’ problems. So many times we think teenagers with money have it all together and don’t have problems, but the article listed three reasons why depression occurs: academic pressure, isolation, and embarrassment. All three reasons push teenagers into self medicating themselves to relieve the anxiety and depression, which in turn leads to more problems. This article gave me a different outlook on my students and the decisions I will make in the future.