Causes & Effects of Mental Depression among Science Students at Higher Secondary Level

Depression is a significant mental health concern worldwide because of high prevalence rates, the chronic nature of the condition and difficult treatment and recovery. It has been ranked as one of the four major illnesses, due to the utmost burden for individuals, families, and society. Depression can be the cause of other diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and Parkinson's disease. Depression is linked with decreased quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality. It's often said that mental depression results from a chemical imbalance, but that figure of speech doesn't capture how complex the disease is. Previously done research suggests that depression doesn't spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events. It's believed that several of these forces interact to bring on mental depression. To be sure, chemicals are involved in this process, but it is not a simple matter of one chemical being too low and another too high. Rather, many chemicals are involved, working both inside and outside nerve cells. There are millions, even billions, of chemical reactions that make up the dynamic system that is responsible for your mood, perceptions, and how you experience life. Mental depression is one of the under-recognized health problems in adolescents. Emotional instability resulted from childhood to adulthood transition makes adolescents vulnerable to depression. Mental health is one of the most neglected aspects of our society. There is a need to increase awareness about mental depression among teachers and parents to identify and help depressed adolescents in the school. Depression is one of the most common global mental health problems. In adolescents, it is one of the under-recognized health problems due to the inability to disclose their feelings and reluctant to seek psychiatric help. In the last Century, the medical community did not accept the existence of depressive disorders in student. It was believed those students are lacking the mature psychological and cognitive structure needed to experience symptoms related to depressive disorders. However, a growing body of evidence proved that student not only experiences the whole spectrum of mood disorders but also suffer from significant morbidity and mortality associated with them. Recent studies have also confirmed the prevalence of depression (10%–60%) in adolescents. The transition period from childhood to adulthood is a stage marked by emotional instability that makes adolescents (students) vulnerable to mental depression. Behavioral changes associated with appropriate treatment. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition has defined symptoms for depression; this includes depressed moods, psychomotor agitation or retardation, diminished interest or pleasure, insomnia, fatigue or loss of energy, diminished ability to concentrate, significant weight loss, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, and recurrent thoughts of death. Individuals exhibiting five or more of those symptoms meet the criteria for major depressive disorders. There is no ideal screening or assessment tool available for mental depression assessments. However, combinations of optimal diagnostic tools followed by clinical interviews are commonly used for diagnosis and treatment of depression. Exploring the magnitude of depression and associated socio-demographic factors as well as stream factor i.e. science among students can contribute to the development of preventive and control strategies for mental depression. There are several forms of depression and the sources of psychiatric depression are called depressions. When an individual is at risk in the face of issues in his life, problems or extreme stress are responsible for mental depression, etc. Traumatic depression is essential and objective. That is important. For a person, mental depression may not become mental depression for one person, or even the same condition or occurrence. Mental depression may be caused internally or externally but should be eliminated. Academic workload, concerns about academic career, and studying in a non-native language (English) are major risk factors associated with stress and mental depression. Students in different years of studies have different mechanisms for demonstrating their mental depression and lack of self-esteem. Academic stress can reduce motivation, hinder academic achievement, and lead to increased school dropout rates Academic stress has also been shown to negatively impact mental health in science students.

"Every word will face a crisis every day that tires out you," according to a scholar. He experiences much of the triggers of our lives of psychiatric depression. Stuff like main loss, traffic jams, minor clashes, etc. can be of several different forms every day occur daily in life, and the individual continues to suffer a depression that causes a different health impact. In science students this problem cannot be identify easily because we had a general perception that science students need to study for long hours and when the student under peer pressure or being a science student starts following religiously this perception as a universal truth in that case he/she falls in a vulnerable category which is more prone to mental depression than those students

An individual tries to purposefully complete his/her task of school assignments and, if he/she fails to do so, they feel mentally depressed the fear among students to secure highest marks to assure admission in one of the best institution and that too selective is too high that it is very difficult for the present generation to come out this puzzle easily without the guidance of their respective teachers and parents.

When a student performs excess work or does study for prolonged periods, he has little rest and is fatigued physically and mentally. Often such long hours of study bore him and then he seeks to escape. Therefore, because of exhaustion a student suffers from mental depression.

"Conflict occurs when a man faces certain individuals who are acting toward the wishes and preferences" according to the scholar. She is disappointed because a student struggles to meet his/her desires. Conflict and disappointment lead to frustration. The source of the loss is outside. The origin is external, while the root of the dispute is internal. The origin is external. Conflicted rivalry can be removed by seeking counsel from and advice from others as a result of indecisive emotional conditions. Everyone needs to make clear confrontation attempts and they thus suffers from mental depression.

Frustration is described as "a psychological difference in the excessive urgency, a loss of energy, and a variety of related symptoms."Science student‘s feels frustrated when he/she fails to perform as per the expectations of his/her parents, teachers and overall his/her expectations which are Some of the other factors students commonly cite as causes of mental depression or stress includes:

• Examinations

• Deadlines

• Returning to study

• Pressure of combining paid work and study

• Difficulty in organizing work

• Poor time management

• Leaving assignments to the last minute

• Out of control debts

• Poor housing

• Overcrowding

• Noise

• Adjusting to life in a new environment or even country

• Difficulties with personal relationships (e.g. splitting up)

• Balancing the demands of a family with studying

• Parents or problems at home

Very often stress results from an accumulation of many different pressures which build up gradually without us noticing.

Physically: The heart pumps faster, making the heart pound and blood pressure rise. Some students experience palpitations. Muscle tensions increases, leading to headaches, dizziness, jaw ache and even insomnia. The mouth goes dry. Digestion slows causing ―butterflies‖ in the stomach. Breathing is faster and less efficient which can lead to over-breathing (hyperventilation) and breathlessness. Changes in the flow of blood to the skin can cause sweating, blushing or clammy hands and feet. Mentally: A certain amount of stress can be mentally stimulating but too much can affect our thinking ability. Thoughts may become jumbled and confused. Thinking becomes focused on worrying. We may become preoccupied with problems. It becomes much harder to make decisions or find solutions to problems. Thinking negatively and fearing the worst increases worry and stress. Emotionally: Students respond to stress in many different ways. Common emotional effects are irritability, impatience, anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, self-doubt, panic, and despondency, feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, hopelessness, unhappiness, emotional withdrawal and mental depression too.

Academic pressure may come from family expectations, the ambitious goals students set for academic stress increases the risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, substance use problems, sleep problems, pain and bodily complaints such as muscle tension. If an individual resides in chronic emotional depression or a tense condition, his or her well-being is influenced differently. The implications of Clinical depression are as follows:

Tension or depression has a serious impact on an individual's body system according to the American Psychological Association. When a person is chronically under the emotional depression the hormones in the body of an individual shifts. Increased digestive system blood pressure disorders, rise in blood glucose are signs of psychiatric depression and whether such a condition is longer-lasting, wellbeing will be varied.

Mental distress or depression often contributes to breathing adjustments and minor problems cause heartbeats. There is a chance of a cardiac attack too even at a very young age.

Diverse effects on the digestive system of students are caused by continuous depression like of abdominal pain, fatigue, constipation and other numerous effects which are correlated to digestive system.

Continuous depression increases the aggressiveness of human nature. If a youngster knows it all but doesn't want to express indignation even little things, it's co-important. He is unable to influence his selves and demands that others accept what he says.

The result of depression is frustrating for youngsters especially for science students at Higher Secondary Level as they doesn't want to live in a community and become so angry that even over little matters they usually behaves in a very unappreciable and Mental depression facilitation techniques: • Boost self-esteem. • Create your self-confidence. • Developing competencies for relational intelligence. • Reinforce our feeling of goodness. • Eat healthy foods. • Sleep well. • Yoga and meditation activities. • Daily exercise. • Encourage a supporting group of friends. • Efficient leadership capabilities develop. • Engagement in artistic work. • Daily review of goals. • Search for skilled assistance, it's required. No particular form or strategy of stress or mental depression is appropriate according to the American Depression Institute. However, you will face depression through collective action and approach. Although academic stress is a well-known risk factor for students' mental depression, little is known about the possible psychological mechanisms underlying this association.

It is possible that exposure to multiple academic-related stressors may lead to persistent and uncontrollable stress, which in turn damages the goals and hopes of students, causing them to develop hopeless thoughts further contributing to the development of depression. In many studies, it was investigated that the prevalence of mental depression among students is outcome of academic stress and thus this stress can be eased by counseling only so it is recommended to take active steps to increase awareness about mental depression among teachers and parents with the help of school counselors to identify and help depressed adolescents in the school. Active, early intervention can help prevent worsening of mental depression and its impact on the academic performance and life of the science students at Higher Secondary level.

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Research Scholar, Apex School of Education, Apex University, Jaipur (Rajasthan)-303002