Is There More Pressure On Young People Today Than Use To Be?

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“Is There More Pressure On Young People Today Than Use To Be”

Since the 80’s there has been a vast incline in the number of suicides among young people “ suicide amongst young men aged 15 - 24 increased in the 10 years up until 1994”. Girls aged 15 - 19 are at the greatest risk of suicide attempts. In 1994 859 people aged between 15 – 24 took their own lives. Suicide is not just something you read about in the news it is something which happens on a regular basis and every so often you hear about someone who has committed suicide.

        Are these increasing numbers just a sign of the changing times are is there a reason behind them? Childline says the main reason for suicide is, abuse, constant rows with someone close, bullying, and stress over exams, and worries the future. These can lead to feelings of anxiety, low self-esteem, isolation and depression. The groups of people more at risk include the unemployed, homeless, young gay men and lesbians and drug addicts. People who also find themselves in bad situations a death, pregnancy or even a relationship ending may contemplate suicide.

        From this you can see there is a lot of pressure being put on children or children putting it on themselves.

        One of the main causes of depression in young people is bullying. Everyone comes across bullying in one way or another (physical or mental) in their young life. Bullying hurts and it may make the person who is being bullied feel scared or/and upset. Bullying happens on a daily basis everywhere sometimes the people who can help our ignorant of what is actually going on so it may continue for a long time until the person can ask for help. Bullies come in many different forms they could be the tough rugby players, the people who stand at the back of the lockers smoking, family members or even a teacher. Bullies can beat a person up or they may torment them mentally by trying to make you feel bad in front of large numbers of people, by shouting at you and by teasing or making fun of you. The pressure of bullying can lead to depression, eating disorders and skipping school.

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        The media has a huge influence of the viewing public and so creates the perception of the perfect person. Advertisements show you young, beautiful, skinny women or young tanned muscular men telling you what you need. These give young people especially girls (there are also some boys) the idea that they need to look a certain way or they will not be accepted. Many girls diet and want to be at most 8 stone some of these people know when to stop losing weight, but anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa can occur and the person can only see himself ...

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