Home Drink & Drugs
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨

Teens: Sex, Drugs And Depression?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
(WebMD) Depression may be the result rather than the cause of risky teen behaviors.

A new study shows that teen sex or drug use raised the risk of depression a year later.

Researchers say the results challenge the notion that teens become sexually active or engage in drug use to "self-medicate" their own depression.

"Findings from the study show depression came after substance and sexual activity, not the other way around," says researcher Denise Dion Hallfors of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, in a news release.

Sex, Drugs Come First and Depression Follows

In the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed data from a national survey of more than 13,000 teenagers in grades seven to 11 who were interviewed in 1995 and again a year later.

Overall, the results showed that sex and drug use was associated with an increased risk of depression by the second interview, but depression didn't predict risky behavior.

Researchers say both drug experimentation and sexual activity were linked to an increased risk of future depression in teenaged girls. Among teenage boys, only high-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking, were associated with an increase in future depression.

For example:

Girls who had experimented with drugs and sex were two to three times more likely to become depressed than those who abstained.

Boys who used marijuana were more than three times as likely to become depressed as nonusers.

Boys who engaged in binge drinking were nearly five times more likely to become depressed than abstainers.

Depression Still Raises Risks

Though depression did not influence risky behavior among teenaged boys, researchers found depression was related to behavior in some cases among teenage girls.

Specifically, depression reduced the likelihood of high-risk behavior among girls who abstained from drug and alcohol use but increased the risk of these behaviors among girls already experimenting with drugs and alcohol

"For females, even modest involvement in substance use and sexual experimentation elevates depression risk," write the researchers. "In contrast, boys show little added risk with experimental behavior, but binge drinking and frequent use of marijuana contribute substantial risk."

Researchers say the results show that experimentation with substance use and sex, along with other factors, such as dropping grades in school and social isolation, can be signs of depression in teenagers that parents and health care professionals should look out for.

Identifying Teen Depression

Young people with depression may have a hard time coping with everyday activities and responsibilities, have difficulty getting along with others, and suffer from low self-esteem.

Depression is more than just having the "blues" now and then; it is a persistent condition.
Here are some signs and symptoms of depression to look out for:

Frequent sadness, tearfulness, or crying

Hopelessness

Decreased interest in activities or inability to enjoy former favorite activities

Persistent boredom; low energy

Social isolation; poor communication

Low self-esteem and guilt

Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure

Increased irritability, anger, or hostility

Difficulty with relationships

Frequent complaints of physical illness such as headaches and stomachaches

Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school

Poor concentration

A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns

Talk of or efforts to run away from home

Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self-destructive behavior

Sources: Hallfors, D. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, October 2005; vol 29. News release, Health Behavior News Service. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

Link


Any thoughts?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yes, some drug abuse during the teenage years could make depression and other mental health issues more likely.

    But, given we have only a very patchy understanding of how the mind works to say one leads to the other is difficult.

    I would be more interested in taking base level checks of dopamine in children and then seeing later how many of them went on to be involved in risky actions. Low dopamine is known to be linked to poor perception of risk.

    The general message is true though, drug use is potentially dangerous for everyone, far more so for children.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nash wrote:
    (WebMD) Depression may be the result rather than the cause of risky teen behaviors.

    A new study shows that teen sex or drug use raised the risk of depression a year later.

    Researchers say the results challenge the notion that teens become sexually active or engage in drug use to "self-medicate" their own depression.

    "Findings from the study show depression came after substance and sexual activity, not the other way around," says researcher Denise Dion Hallfors of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, in a news release.

    Sex, Drugs Come First and Depression Follows

    In the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed data from a national survey of more than 13,000 teenagers in grades seven to 11 who were interviewed in 1995 and again a year later.

    Overall, the results showed that sex and drug use was associated with an increased risk of depression by the second interview, but depression didn't predict risky behavior.

    Researchers say both drug experimentation and sexual activity were linked to an increased risk of future depression in teenaged girls. Among teenage boys, only high-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking, were associated with an increase in future depression.

    For example:

    Girls who had experimented with drugs and sex were two to three times more likely to become depressed than those who abstained.

    Boys who used marijuana were more than three times as likely to become depressed as nonusers.

    Boys who engaged in binge drinking were nearly five times more likely to become depressed than abstainers.

    Depression Still Raises Risks

    Though depression did not influence risky behavior among teenaged boys, researchers found depression was related to behavior in some cases among teenage girls.

    Specifically, depression reduced the likelihood of high-risk behavior among girls who abstained from drug and alcohol use but increased the risk of these behaviors among girls already experimenting with drugs and alcohol

    "For females, even modest involvement in substance use and sexual experimentation elevates depression risk," write the researchers. "In contrast, boys show little added risk with experimental behavior, but binge drinking and frequent use of marijuana contribute substantial risk."

    Researchers say the results show that experimentation with substance use and sex, along with other factors, such as dropping grades in school and social isolation, can be signs of depression in teenagers that parents and health care professionals should look out for.

    Identifying Teen Depression

    Young people with depression may have a hard time coping with everyday activities and responsibilities, have difficulty getting along with others, and suffer from low self-esteem.

    Depression is more than just having the "blues" now and then; it is a persistent condition.
    Here are some signs and symptoms of depression to look out for:

    Frequent sadness, tearfulness, or crying

    Hopelessness

    Decreased interest in activities or inability to enjoy former favorite activities

    Persistent boredom; low energy

    Social isolation; poor communication

    Low self-esteem and guilt

    Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure

    Increased irritability, anger, or hostility

    Difficulty with relationships

    Frequent complaints of physical illness such as headaches and stomachaches

    Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school

    Poor concentration

    A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns

    Talk of or efforts to run away from home

    Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self-destructive behavior

    Sources: Hallfors, D. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, October 2005; vol 29. News release, Health Behavior News Service. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

    Link


    Any thoughts?

    Drugs can play a part in depression, but I really can't see how anyone can link depression with sex :confused: .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know, sex = happy :D

    I read over that though and I was showing most signs when I was a kid/teenager, wish someone had noticed back then :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I never read anyof it but who gives a fuck really? :chin:

    Let me think .... :chin:

    NOT A SINGLE CUNT :yippe:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    bah humbug
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hmm my g/f has noticed a change in me since i started doing drugs again!
    Before she said I was always happy and never got in a mood..but apparently recently ( i've been smoking weed pretty much solidly ) i've been very aggitated and sometimes quite moody ( the moody part is true..but wouldn't you be in a mood if someone was touching up your g/f at a party ) ?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's normal for teens to become depressed easily, it's a strange time for some.
    Drugs will obviously not help any mental issues/problems/whatever and probably exaggerate them, there's not much more to it really.

    Drugs are not the direct cause of many things. (Pretty broad statement to make, but it's true)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cocaine all the way!

    Sniffed another gram between me and a mate tonight...i can see how it can be very addicitive.

    Ah well, thank fuck i'm not a millionaire.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shogun wrote:
    Sniffed another gram between me and a mate tonight...i can see how it can be very addicitive.

    It takes a while, a long while for someone to be physically addicted to cocaine, it's just like taking E's for the first few times, really loving the buzz...wanting to do it next week again and so on and so forth.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mekhi wrote:
    the moody part is true..but wouldn't you be in a mood if someone was touching up your g/f at a party ) ?

    shit man i would be more than in a mood,

    the way i look at is that drugs give an amplified effect, if your naturaly a depressed person (tipical teen) then drugs will icrease that depression
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm sorry, but I have very little time to be depressed these days. In between school and work, there is very little time for emotion. Once these teens get out into the real world they will realise that no one cares. No one is crowned royalty of the universe.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    turlough wrote:
    It takes a while, a long while for someone to be physically addicted to cocaine, it's just like taking E's for the first few times, really loving the buzz...wanting to do it next week again and so on and so forth.

    You dont get physically addicted to cocaine, but the habit can kick in quickly, it just depends on the person.
  • JadedJaded Posts: 2,682 Boards Guru
    killa_k wrote:
    the way i look at is that drugs give an amplified effect, if your naturaly a depressed person (tipical teen) then drugs will icrease that depression

    Perhaps, but the most recent findings of research into the effects of cannabis on young smokers suggests that brain chemistry actually changes as a result of smoking in the formative teenage years. And thats for everyone, not just those predisposed to mental health problems. Nothing conclusive yet, as more research needs to be done, but certainly something to keep in mind.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    But how do you tell whether the brains were the same beforehand?

    Did they look into family history of depression?

    Did they look into diet?
  • JadedJaded Posts: 2,682 Boards Guru
    It is a the same study I have referred to before, from the BMJ online, link here.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It saddens me that research such as this will not be used to re-enforce education messages but purely in an effort to toughen the law. Even though of course the law has proven to be no deterant on use what so ever.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The thing with pills and coke is that it heighens your emotions, some people get well emotional, others proper happy or paranoid and obviously your gonna feel shitty the next day as you have either been shocking out all night or over thinking and talking pure rubbish! lol u say depression i say fricking knackered more like!! :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    bongbudda wrote:
    Even though of course the law has proven to be no deterant on use what so ever.

    Yep and it's staring everybody straight in the face... but does anyone take any notice?

    No because they've been so heavily socialised into a way thinking.

    The whole reason drugs are not all legal or at least script legal is really down to socialisation. The population in general have been socialised into thinking that there's a seedy,shady,dangerous drug world when the truth is the world is a seedy place with a hell of a lot of drugs and many other major issues.

    The Government must have some right secrets, if anyone found out any of them it'd be pandemonium... you gotta conform otherwise you get locked up.

    Sorry for posting absolute bullshit with barely any relevance to the topic but I really do feel strongly about it. It's like everyones not even human anymore.
  • JadedJaded Posts: 2,682 Boards Guru
    The thing with pills and coke is that it heighens your emotions, some people get well emotional, others proper happy or paranoid and obviously your gonna feel shitty the next day as you have either been shocking out all night or over thinking and talking pure rubbish! lol u say depression i say fricking knackered more like!! :yes:

    Depression in this instance is a clinical condition, and the symptoms would be manifesting themselves over a period of time, I think its six months or more, before 'feeling a bit low' would be classified as depression. A couple of days of coming down just doesn't cut it.

    It has been said that taking drugs (including alcohol) at a younger age may lead to depression because the coping mechanisms you learn, to be able to handle the not so good things that are bound to happen to you in your life, are replaced to an extent by the temporary release that going out and getting wasted can give you. But that's just a theory...
  • JadedJaded Posts: 2,682 Boards Guru
    Uprising wrote:
    It's like everyones not even human anymore.

    Don't you think you should lay off the pharms Uprising? ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hahaha, maybe, my posts are totally making sense in my mind :chin:

    Am I talking complete crap? :sour:
Sign In or Register to comment.