Increased depression in today's youth

I read a very interesting article on Yahoo news today. A study done in Chicago found that depression and anxiety are five times higher in today's high school and college students than they were in students of the same age studied during the Great Depression era. The study suggests that the cause of this comes from "a popular culture increasingly focused on the external — from wealth to looks and status." In my experience this article is spot on in their assessment. I teach high school and one thing that has consistently stood out to me is the focus on the external and how that clearly leads to what I often refer to as an emptiness. I sometimes feel like I walk around the halls with a bunch of empty shells called students. The students are hurting to feel satisfied and fulfilled and they are currently not getting it from the culture and in many cases not from their families either. Students today are pushed to succeed in school and get into the best colleges. They are told that this will bring them happiness. They are taught that a good job, good looks, lots of money and success is what is really important. The students I teach are very materially wealthy and yet are still empty emotionally. As much as material things are nice and may bring us temporary happiness we are created for something more. I believe the reason the Chicago study found increased depression and anxiety is because as a culture we are failing to push beyond the temporary happiness of this world to the eternal happiness of the next. Our souls were made for God and until we are with him in heaven we will not be fulfilled. Nowhere in scripture does Jesus say that those who have much will be blessed. Actually he says quite the opposite in his sermon on the mount. The material things of this world will fade away. Cars will get old, looks will fade with age, money will loose it allure, and jobs may be lost so it makes sense that they will not ultimately fulfill us, they are only temporary. The only thing that will never fade is Christ. If we focus on things that do not last we will find ourselves empty and upset when they are gone. The challenge for me as a teacher and for all of us as a society is to let this generation know that they are loved and that there is something beyond the external. Heaven is not reserved for the rich, good looking, intelligent, or successful. Saint Augustine said "our hearts will not rest until they rest in you God."

One other thought that comes to mind is the difference in the role of the family between today's culture and the culture of the time of the Great Depression. With an increase in the contraceptive mentality the focus on family life has dropped. I believe this too is contributing to the increase in depression rates. We are meant to live in a family to mirror God who is in himself a family as the Trinity. God uses our experiences on earth to help us understand Him. It is difficult for youth today to understand the love of a triune and familial God because they often are not experiencing it on earth and have nothing to help them understand what that love is really like.

Here is the link to the Yahoo article if you would like to read it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_stressed_out_students