The Proposal.. Kind of

      At the beginning of this project I was kind of at a loss of what to do. I already planned on going to Africa to volunteer in the summer, but it's not like I can just go there this weekend to do this paper. I focused on the career I plan on going into: psychology. I just thought about doing research on the profession, and interviewing experienced psychologists. That was actually my plan until last night.

       When we were thinking about what are some pressing issues in the world, I thought about depression, specifically teen depression. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. This is us, and these are our friends and classmates. It's a serious issue. Depression affects about 5% of all teens, making it one of the most common illnesses for teenagers.

     I did some research on individual stories. I found that a lot of these teens that committed suicide, their friends and family didn't even know that anything was wrong. I know firsthand that it's sometimes difficult to recognize the signs of depression because these kids will put on a smile for the rest of the world, even though they're hurting inside. These kids also tried to get help in subtle ways like a post on Facebook, but didn't seem to get any one's attention. I think it's important to raise awareness about this.

     I'm still at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I'm thinking of starting something to raise awareness about the signs of depression, but I'm also thinking of starting some sort of safe place for teens with depression to communicate with each other, so they know they're not alone. I'm going to do some more research to see what sort of thing I can set up. If you guys have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

     Here's the bunny video!