Curing the Summertime Blues

Last Updated (Monday, 08 March 2010 08:39) Written by Morgan Johnston Friday, 05 March 2010 13:12

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2 December 2009   

CURING THE SUMMERTIME BLUES

by Stephen Bell *

The pioneer rocker, Eddie Cochrane, once sang a memorable line that went “There ain’ t no cure for the summertime blues”.

Few young people these days will have heard of Cochrane but that lyric of his still seems to encapsulate how many of them feel, as the days lengthen, the sun warms up and they’re relentlessly urged by advertisers and marketers to be out and about enjoying themselves.  

Let’s face it, no-one is capable of feeling positive and happy all the time, and particularly not  young people, who are often still uncertain of their identities, worried by what lies ahead of them and prey to all the sensitivities that are a natural part of adolescence.  For so many of them, the shimmering and much-touted promise of summer seems to mock their inner doubts, loneliness and insecurity.  It can actually make your personal bad times feel a lot worse.

There is, of course, nothing new about unhappy teens and, in many cases, they lose their despondency with admirable speed.  But it might help if they were under less pressure to conform to a constantly joyful stereotype , just because the sun is shining.

It would also help if young people had more to be genuinely happy about; if they were less disproportionately represented in unemployment statistics, were listened to more often and had a broader range of low cost recreational opportunities open to them.  

But there’s a group for whom the summertime blues might last long beyond summer. They are members of that large minority of young New Zealanders who are suffering from clinical depression.  

You can often recognise the symptoms. Those affected might appear irritable, even aggressive, have trouble concentrating or seem lacking in energy.  They may be ignoring their personal appearance or hygiene and they might seem both intensely self-critical and acutely sensitive to the perceived criticism of others.  And these symptoms don’t just last for a few days or weeks but go on and on.

It’s less easy to isolate the causes of clinical depression, although, clearly, the environment in which young people grow up has an inevitable impact on their health and wellbeing.  A family that provides a warm and loving environment will almost certainly help protect its children from the subsequent onset of depression , while a family that neglects and abuses a child, increases the risk of the condition occurring.  Even so, there’s an infinite variety of factors that can come into play and even the happiest of childhoods provides no guarantee against depression.    

One thing we can be sure about, though, is that depression is a major youth health issue with significant consequences for our society as a whole.   In 2005, the Christchurch Health and Development Study, which tracks the lives of more than a thousand children born in mid 1977, found a strong link between depression at the ages of 17 and 18 and later mental health issues.

The same study found more than a quarter of those tracked had one or more core symptoms of major depression. Even more serious is the role of the condition in boosting suicide figures, with research suggesting that  young people with a suicidal tendency might be the least likely to seek help.  

So what can we do, as a country, to reduce the incidence of depression amongst our young people and to help those affected back to health and happiness?

Firstly, and obviously, we need to reduce the amount of violence and abuse in our homes.  We also need to offer our Youth positive development pathways that provide a sense of purpose and achievement, a feeling of connection to others and a degree of control over their lives.  Educational and employment opportunities and accessible recreational programmes are important parts of the mix. But so is encouraging young people to make independent and informed choices for themselves about what’s best for them.

Equally obviously, we need to make it as easy as possible for young people with depression to seek and acquire help. This, in turn, involves making counselling services more youth-friendly.

At Youthline, we can claim to be setting the pace in this regard.  We’ve added email and SMS text messaging as ways of contacting our helpline and counselling service, along with more traditional approaches.  We also benefit from the input of a large band of young helpline volunteers, whose empathy for and sensitivity towards their fellow young people is proving just as valuable as the clinical skills of our more experienced team members.

Of course, none of the things that are needed to reduce or treat depression come without financial cost and, in the current tough economic environment, there will be those reluctant to see government putting funds into these areas.  

But, if we want a happy, healthy and high-achieving nation, we have to be willing to pay this price.  After all, no-one wants the summertime blues to continue all through the year, into the next one and the one after that.    

* Stephen Bell is the National Spokesperson for Youthline, which helps young people to reach their potential and provides them with a wide range of support and leadership opportunities.