Psychology Adolescent Depression Essays - Abnormal Psychology

Psychology Adolescent Depression The Under Acknowledged Disease Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because children are not always able to express how they feel. Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm. Therefore, diagnosis should not lay only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors (Oster & Montgomery, 1996). Mood disorders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety (Oster & Montgomery, 1996), eating disorders (Lasko et al., 1996), hyperactivity (Blackman, 1995), substance abuse (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996) and suicide (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996; Oster & Montgomery, 1996) all of which can hide depressive symptoms. The signs of clinical depression include marked changes in mood and associated behaviors that range from sadness, withdrawal, and decreased energy to intense feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. Depression is often described as an exaggeration of the duration and intensity of normal mood changes (Brown 1996). Key indicators of adolescent depression include a drastic change in eating and sleeping patterns, significant loss of interest in previous activity interests (Blackman, 1995; Oster & Montgomery, 1996), constant boredom (Blackman, 1995), disruptive behavior, peer problems, increased irritability and aggression (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) proposed that formal psychologic testing may be helpful in complicated presentations that do not lend themselves easily to diagnosis. For many teens, symptoms of depression are directly related to low self esteem stemming from increased emphasis on peer popularity. For other teens, depression arises from poor family relations which could include decreased family support and perceived rejection by parents (Lasko et al., 1996). Oster & Montgomery (1996) stated that when parents are struggling over marital or career problems, or are ill themselves, teens may feel the tension and try to distract their parents. This distraction could include increased disruptive behavior, self-inflicted isolation and even verbal threats of suicide. So how can the physician determine when a patient should be diagnosed as depressed or suicidal? Brown (1996) suggested the best way to diagnose is to screen out the vulnerable groups of children and adolescents for the risk factors of suicide and then refer them for treatment. Some of these risk factors include verbal signs of suicide within the last three months, prior attempts at suicide, indication of severe mood problems, or excessive alcohol and substance abuse. Many physicians tend to think of depression as an illness of adulthood. In fact, Brown (1996) stated that it was only in the 1980's that mood disorders in children were included in the category of diagnosed psychiatric illnesses. In actuality, 7-14% of children will experience an episode of major depression before the age of 15. An average of 20-30% of adult bipolar patients report having their first episode before the age of 20. In a sampling of 100,000 adolescents, two to three thousand will have mood disorders out of which 8-10 will commit suicide (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) remarked that the suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade. Brown (1996) added that an estimated 2,000 teenagers per year commit suicide in the United States, making it the leading cause of death after accidents and homicide. Blackman (1995) stated that it is not uncommon for young people to be preoccupied with issues of mortality and to contemplate the effect their death would have on close family and friends. Once it has been determined

Biography of Spiro Agnew, Vice President Who Resigned

Biography of Spiro Agnew, Vice President Who Resigned Spiro T. Agnew was a little known Republican politician from Maryland whose unlikely ascent to the vice presidency prompted many Americans in the late 1960s to wonder Spiro who? Agnew  was an unremarkable figure known to speak in a deadening monotone who was nonetheless notorious for his combative relationship with the press and unwavering loyalty to his boss, President Richard M. Nixon. He once referred to journalists as a tiny, enclosed fraternity of privileged men elected by no one† and to Nixons critics as â€Å"nattering nabobs of negativism.†Ã‚   Agnew is perhaps most well-known for the end of his career. He was forced to resign from office after being charged with extortion, bribery and conspiracy and pleading no contest to income-tax evasion in 1973.   Early Years Spiro Theodore Agnew (also known as Ted)  was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on Nov. 9, 1918. His father, Theophrastos Anagnostopoulos, had immigrated to the U.S. from Greece in 1897 and changed his surname. The elder Agnew sold produce before entering the restaurant business. His mother was American, a native of Virginia.   Spiro Agnew attended the public schools in Baltimore and entered  Johns Hopkins University to study chemistry in 1937. He transferred out of the prestigious school after struggling academically and enrolled at the  University of Baltimore Law School. He earned his law degree, but only after being drafted into the Army during World War II.  He returned to law school after being discharged and received his law degree in 1947, then went on to practice law in Baltimore. Early Career in Politics Agnew was little known outside of his home state of Maryland before Nixon chose him as a running mate. His first foray into politics came in 1957 when he was appointed to  the Baltimore County zoning appeals board, on which he served three years. He ran and lost for a judgeship in 1960, then won the Baltimore County executive position two years later. (The position is similar to that of mayor of a city.) During Agnews tenure, the county enacted a law requiring restaurants and other establishments to be to be open to customers of all races, built new schools and increased teacher salaries. He was, in other words, a progressive Republican. After creating a name for himself in the populous Maryland County, Agnew sought and won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1966. He beat a Democratic candidate,  George Mahoney, who supported segregation and campaigned on the slogan  Your Home Is Your Castle- Protect It. Charging Mahoney with racial bigotry, Agnew captured the liberal suburbs around Washington and was elected governor, Agnews Senate biography reads. But he would serve as governor for fewer than two years before he caught to eye of his partys presidential hopeful, Nixon. Rise to the Vice Presidency Nixon chose Agnew as  a running mate in the campaign of 1968, a decision that was controversial and unpopular with the Republican Party. The GOP viewed the progressive urban politician with suspicion. Nixon responded by describing Agnew as  one of the most underrated political men in America,  an old fashioned patriot† who, having been raised and elected in Baltimore, was a master strategist on urban issues. â€Å"There can be a mystique about a man. You can look him in the eye and know hes got it. This guy has got it, Nixon said in defense of his choice for running mate. Agnew was elected vice president in 1968; he and Nixon were  re-elected to second term in 1972. In 1973, as the Watergate investigation was churning toward a denouement that would force the resignation of Nixon, Agnew ran into legal trouble. Criminal Charge and Resignation Agnew was facing possible impeachment or criminal charges in 1973 for allegedly accepting payoffs from contractors when he served as Baltimore County executive and vice president. But he remained defiant in the face of a grand jurys investigation.  I will not resign if indicted! I will not resign if indicted! he proclaimed. But evidence that he  evaded  paying his income taxes- he was accused of failing to report $29,500 in income- soon led to his downfall. He resigned from office on Oct. 10, 1973, under a plea deal that allowed him to avoid prison time. In a formal statement to  Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Agnew stated: I hereby resign the office of Vice President of the United States, effective immediately. A judge sentenced Agnew to  three years of probation and fined him $10,000. Nixon became the first president in U.S. history to use the  25th Amendment  to appoint a successor to the position of vice president,  House Minority Leader  Gerald  Ford. The amendment establishes the  orderly transfer of power  for replacing the president and vice president in the event they die in office, quit or are  impeached. The prosecution of the case removed Agnew from the presidential line of succession, which turned out to be a fateful decision. Nixon was forced to resign less than a year later, in August 1994, amid the Watergate scandal, and Ford took over the presidency. Agnews resignation was only the second by a vice president. (The first took place in 1832, when Vice President John C. Calhoun resigned the office to take a U.S. Senate seat.) Marriage and Personal Life Angew married  Elinor Isabel Judefind in 1942, whom he met while employed at an insurance company during his law-school years. The couple went to a movie and for chocolate milkshakes on their first date and discovered they had grown up four blocks apart. The Agnews had four children: Pamela, Susan, Kimberly, and James. Agnew died of leukemia in Berlin, Maryland, at the age of 77. Legacy Agnew will forever be know for his rapid ascent from obscurity to national prominence and his scathing attacks on the news media and polemics on society and culture. He was critical of efforts to lift Americas economically disadvantaged out of systemic poverty and of civil-rights protestors in the tumultuous late 1960s. He frequently used derogatory slurs, such as,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If youve seen one city slum, youve seen them all.† Agnew reserved much of his ire for members of the news media. He was among the first politicians to accuse journalists of bias.   Spiro Agnew Fast Facts Full Name: Spiro Theodore AgnewAlso Known As: TedKnown For: Serving as vice president under Richard M. Nixon and resigning for tax evasionBorn:  Nov. 9, 1918 in Baltimore, Maryland, USAParents Names:  Theophrastos Anagnostopoulos, who changed his surname to Agnew, and  Margaret Marian Pollard AgnewDied:  Sept. 17, 1996 in  Berlin, Maryland, USAEducation: Law degree from the University of Baltimore Law School, 1947Key Accomplishments: Enacted a law in Baltimore County requiring restaurants and other establishments to be to be open to customers of all races, built new schools and increased teacher salariesSpouse Name:  Elinor Isabel JudefindChildrens Names:  Pamela, Susan, Kimberly and JamesFamous Quote:  In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism.  They have formed their own 4-H club  -   the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.   Sources Hatfield, Mark O.  Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789-1993. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997.Naughton, James M. Agnew Quits Vice Presidency And Admits Tax Evasion In 67; Nixon Consults On Successor. The New York Times. 11 October 1973.  https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1010.htmlSpiro T. Agnew, Ex-Vice President, Dies at 77. The New York Times. 18 September, 1996.  https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/18/us/spiro-t-agnew-ex-vice-president-dies-at-77.html