Introduction
The years in between childhood and adulthood are paramount in the preparation of an
individual for adulthood (Asia Pacific Disability rehabilitation journal, vol 15).
Henceforth, individuals with disabilities are often left excluded from this stage of growth
and development during the adolescent stages of life. This stage in an individual’s life is
where they acquire many fundamental social, educational and economic skills. Children
with disabilities may miss out on these experiences due to their inability to engage in
certain aspects of adolescent life (APRF, vol 15). The limitations of disabled youths vary
to an array of areas such as sporting activities, social relationship, personal relationships
etc... These limitations can in turn lead to social exclusion that can result in adolescent
depression.
Depression is one of the most common mental health problems to affect teens. Often an
individual’s first experience of depression occurs during their teen years during important
developmental years. There are several types of depression; however “Major depression”
is the most common amongst adolescents. www.Beyondblue.com (2009) describes
Major depression as a depressed mood that lasts for at least two weeks and that may also
be referred to as clinical depression. A teenage boy at the age of fifteen exists within the
bounds of many social constructions and organizations that help to aid the boy in his
transition into adulthood. However, how if suddenly the boy began to suffer from
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
depression would he cope and deal with all the structures surrounding him? What impacts
would the boy’s depression have over his individual characteristics, family
characteristics, school context, community characteristics and Australian society?
Individual characteristics
The boy is fifteen years of age, is of Jewish affiliation and lives in Strathfeld. He is one of
four in the family. The boy has undergone two major changes in his life that have been
beyond his control. The first being his sisters heroin overdone is 2001 and the second
being the pool accident that left him a paraplegic. According to the ABS 52% of children
with a disability have physical disabilities. The boy’s accident was a curve ball to the
family in terms of the plans the individual had for himself as well as those the family had
for him regarding schooling, lifestyle, recreation etc…
The individual hit with depression will find himself second guessing and inaccurately
evaluating his life plans. This depressed mood is likely to bring about the feelings of
crisis and shell shock that came about after his sisters passing and his accident. The boy
is suffering depression at the most vulnerable stage of life- the developmental stage. The
child is now right in the middle of the transition phase from child to adult. This is the
phase in which he will need to deal with educational development, social development,
personal development, and economic development. This is where the child will come
face to face with the reality of his apparent differences to those around him. His level and
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
rate of development compared to those going through the same changes will differ. Prior
to this stage in life the child would not have been as aware of this difference. At early
stages when the child was younger the difference then was namely pointed at the physical
differences between him and other children. However, during the transition phase the
child is more aware and switched on about the developmental differences. These
differences include the rate of puberty that he goes through, the social relationships’ he
has, his sexual experiences, his educational and economic development. Suffering form
depressing may then leave the boy at risk of making any future plans as he sees that there
is no point in planning things that will not work out leaving him with an extremely low
self-esteem.
Family characteristics
The subject lives with his father mother and brother. His Father is a rabbi and his mother
is a dress Maker. In 2001 the boy’s sister died of a heroin overdose. According to
Prigerson (2007) “depression can come in the form of a syndrome encompassing
symptoms, such as chronic longing and yearning, pining and longing for the deceased,
trouble accepting the death, the inability to trust others, excessive bitterness related to the
death, uneasiness to move on, numbness and detachment, feeling that life is empty,
cognitions about a bleak future, and being agitated”.
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
A study conducted by Let Dillan and Johnny. R. Fontaine (2009) in Washington focused
on the traumatic loss of a grandparent during the adolescent stage. The study showed that
one of the first and most prevalent bereavements’ that youngsters are confronted with
involves the death of a grandparent. The depression and anxiety felt during this time of
crisis can be translated across to understanding how traumatic the loss of the boy’s sister
was for him and how traumatic it is today. During the developmental stage of his life he
is now more socially aware and has a greater understanding of life’s concepts such as life
and death. He now has a greater understanding of the gravity of the situation then what he
did when he was younger. This new found awareness led to the boy’s depression as now
he has grasped the concept of tragedy and loss. Depression will lead the boy into
distancing himself from his family and friends. He will not want to get too attached to the
people in his life i.e. his parents in fear that he may loose them as well. Depression leaves
the boy at risk of becoming is leading the boy to not wanting to engage in any
relationships and not wanted to get attached to the relationships he already has i.e. his
parents in the fear that like his sister that relationship will also result in a tragedy.
School context
Most people often experience their first symptoms of depression during their teen years.
Depression along with affecting one’s individual and family life also affects their school
life. “Young people may become very irritable, secretive and may take uncharacterized
risks” (www.beyondblue.org.au ). This however goes unrecognized and is misinterpreted
by family and friends as normal teen behaviour and the depression may go unrecognized
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
and untreated. “Depression is one of the most common mental health problems in young
people. At any given time, up to 5 per cent of adolescents experience depression that is
severe enough to warrant treatment, and around 20 per cent of young people will have
experienced
significant
depressive
symptoms
by
the
time
they
reach
adulthood”(www.beyondblue.org.au).
The child has attended Moriah College, Bondi Sydney, Since primary school. For two
years after the boys accident he attended a special needs school, however his parents
decided to place him into a Jewish school. This school environment has a huge spiritual
influence upon the child, in the religious teachings the school encompasses into the daily
routine of the child. These teachings influence the child’s development, morally,
religiously and in relation to his value systems. The child’s disability means that his
experience in the classroom will be different to that of his peers; there may be certain
activities that he cannot participate in e.g. athletic carnivals, swimming carnivals, Camp
activities etc… These lost experiences hinder the Childs development in terms of
achievement sporting or otherwise.
The child has support staff helping him and the teachers in the class to take care of his
needs. During this developmental stage of life teens are learning the importance of
independence. Due to his condition the boy is unable to be completely independent as he
is dependant upon his careers and support staff to function daily. This showcases another
major developmental difference between the boy and the rest of his peers. The inability
for the boy to be as independent as his peers leads to feelings of inadequacy a sense that
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
he is behind the pack. The boy’s condition ensures that his experience within the school
yard will be different. The school environment is the most significant place where he is
able to see his differences. The school environment allows the boy to see people his own
age going through the same changes but in a different way to him. Depression puts the
boy at risk of sensationalizing these differences and giving up upon his education and
faith. The boy may convince himself that there is no hope in trying that it is simply too
hard. The boy’s depressive behaviour will sabotage his education if he does not seek help
to overcome it.
Community characteristics
The child attends a group for children with disabilities once a week, and has a vast group
of friends from there that share similar disabilities. Parents of these children often offer to
organize outings for the children once a week. The majority of the boy’s friends attend
the meetings. The boy only gets to spend time with these friends within the meetings and
in the event that the teen’s parents have organized an outing. The remainder of the boy’s
friends is from a Jewish church meeting that he attends once a week. The boy’s parents
need to travel a fair distance as there are no organizations like these in the boys local
community.
The journal of pediatric psychology (2003) suggests that adolescents with disabilities
report that they have a lower quality of life. People with disabilities often lack access to
adequate medical care and health facilities and are considered to be a risk for secondary
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
conditions such as mental health problems in addition to their primary condition (2003).
Hence it is important to remove the many social and environmental barriers to promote
the fair inclusion of adolescents with disabilities to schools, families and community
activities. This needs to be done in order to improve the quality of life of these
adolescents and for the prevention of depression.
Australian society
Depression in Australia is very common and it is on the way to becoming a national
crisis. According to the beyond blue website (www.beyondblue.org.au) around one
million Australian adults and 100,000 young people live with depression every day. It is
recorded that on average one in five people will experience depression in their lifetimeOne in four woman and one in six males. It is important in order to help this epidemic
that more awareness is generated over the problem and its remedies so that a huge
amount of people can be helped. The child’s parents if they recognize the boy’s
depression should contact www.beyondblue.org.au and ask about help to stop their son
from suffering anymore.
Global factors or influences
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
Depression is a world wide issue that affects millions upon millions of people. It is
essential that more awareness is generated about this problem and that it is made known
that there is a way out. The boy does not feel that there is a way out of his depression.
Most people with depression don’t realize that they actually have it. It is important that
locally people concentrate their efforts upon solving this problem so that globally the
world can be depression free.
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914
Cited references
‘Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal 22’ Vol. 15 No. 2 2004 pp. 21-22
Boelen, P. A., & Prigerson, H. G. (2007) ‘The influence of symptoms of prolonged
grief disorder, depression, and anxiety on quality of life among bereaved
adults: A prospective study’. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical
Neuroscience, 257, 444–452.
Depression, viewed 24th April 2009, http://www.depression.com/
“Disability, New South Wales, 2001”. 28/0902006 http://www.abs.gov.au (accessed 15th
March 2009)
Let Dillen, Johnny R J Fontaine, Leni Verhofstadt-Denéve, “Confirming the
Distinctiveness of Complicated Grief from Depression and Anxiety Among Adolescents”.
Death Studies: Washington: May 2009. Vol. 33, no. 5; p. 437
Todd C. Edwards, PhD, Donald L. Patrick, Tari D.Topolski, ‘ Life of adolescent with
perceived Disabilities’ University of Washington Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol.
28, No. 4, 2003, pp. 233-234
What is depression?, viewed 25th April 2009,
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=89
Natalie Pavisic
S00082914