Major Depressive Disorder Among South Korean Adolescent (Research Paper Sample)

“To what extent does the South Korean education system contribute to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) amongst South Korean adolescents?”
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Word Count: 4005
Abstract
The paper examined the research question: To what extent does the South Korean education system contribute to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) amongst South Korean adolescents?
Examination of the extent at which the education system of South Korea contributes towards the development of the Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) among the adolescents was evaluated while using published research, as well as an understanding of cultural traditions. Researchers that include Lee & Larson (2000) and Ang & Huan (2006) conducted studies, which concluded that the education system in Korea affects the development of stress and depression disorders among the adolescents.
The school environment has been found to be a major source of adolescent depression. As such, the socioeconomic standing of a school affects the emotional well-being of students. In contrast, students may develop stress related to the inability to study and weak skills in the management of time. Thus, the adolescents’ personal traits make them in capable of delivering good academic performance as expected. Consequently, they end up being stressed and eventually developing the MDD. In addition, study by Rudolph (2002) indicates that adolescents can develop stress as they pass through the stage of adolescence. This stress may cause MDD development.
In conclusion, the paper does not conclusively answer the question of the extent to which academic system contributes to the development of MDD among the adolescents in Korea. Nevertheless, the paper brings into right the education system factors, which influence the development of the disorder among the adolescents.
Word Count: 220
Table of Contents
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc458539961 \h 2
Introduction PAGEREF _Toc458539962 \h 4
Main Body PAGEREF _Toc458539963 \h 5
Studies Related to Studying and College Exam Preparations PAGEREF _Toc458539964 \h 5
School PAGEREF _Toc458539965 \h 7
Parental expectations PAGEREF _Toc458539966 \h 9
Internet Addiction PAGEREF _Toc458539967 \h 11
Body Weight and Self-esteem PAGEREF _Toc458539968 \h 12
Other Factors PAGEREF _Toc458539969 \h 13
Implications PAGEREF _Toc458539970 \h 14
Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc458539971 \h 14
References PAGEREF _Toc458539972 \h 17
Introduction
According to Belmaker & Agam (2008), Major Depressive Disorder is heterogeneous and has no established mechanism, but it is inconsistent in terms of the treatment and diagnosis. It is recognized as mental disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2008). The diagnosis of the disorder is evidenced by the distinct change of the patient’s mood, which include irritability and sadness. Cognitive mind symptoms include psychophysiological changes, which include lack of appetite, sleep disturbances, constipation, and sexual desire. Patients may also lack the ability to enjoy work and pleasure. This includes affecting the relationships with friends, family members, and other employees (Belmaker & Agam, 2008).
South Korea has focused extensively on the mental health of the adolescents because of the increase in the number of cases of depression and suicide on this population. Depression is linked to causing over 90 percent of the mental problems leading to suicide (Zuckerbrot & Jensen, 2006). Statistics from a study have shown that the number of adolescents under 19 years old in South Korea who were diagnosed with a depressive disorder have significantly increased from 1,038 in 2004 to 1,370 in 2007 (Houri et al., 2012). Overall, that depression is prevalent amongst adolescent in South Korea and appears to be increasing. South Korea had the highest suicide rate for eight consecutive years. It is the leading cause of death for people between ages 10 and 30 (Kim, 2014). Moreover, 80-90% of the suicides in South Korea are byproducts of depression (McDonald, 2011).
However, MDD prevalence among adolescents has not been reported, but there are government organizations and clinical research teams, which have tried to investigate the possible risk factors and prevalence of depression using various approaches in Korea (National Institute of Mental Health, 2008). There is no concrete explanation for the increasing number of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) among South Korean adolescents. However, over the years the level of academic achievement and expectations has escalated in South Korea and there are various studies conducted to support the correlation between the increased academic performance and the increased number of diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Therefore, it has been suggested that there could be a link between the increased level of MDD and the intensity of the South Korean education system.
Depression has reported factors that include anxious, being female, exposure to trauma or stress, parent’s depression, and subclinical presence of depressive symptoms (Garber, 2006). In the Western context, the contributing factors to depression have been described. However, their applicability to the adolescents from South Korea is not known. Previous clinical and epidemiological research depicts that there is psychological vulnerability to the environmental surroundings (Rudolph, 2009).
This paper will investigate and evaluate the various factors, which affect the academic life of the South Korean adolescents. These include cultural, economic, family and social factors. The paper is based on the academic studies conducted by Lee & Larson (2000) and Kang et al. (2014).
By doing so, this paper will explore different factors that influence Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in South Korea in order to determine the extent to which the South Korean education system contribute to MDD amongst South Korean adolescents.
Main Body
Studies Related to Studying and College Exam Preparations
Lee & Larson (2000) conducted a study, which focused on the examination of the factors affecting the clinical depression among the adolescents in Korea. This was a cross cultural study characterized of 56 seniors from high school in Korea and 62 seniors from America. The study findings indicated that adolescents from Korea invested more time in school-based activities and less time in other activities than the students from America (Lee & Larson, 2000). The daily ordeal of students from Korea is studying in order to prepare to pass the college entrance exams. As such, Korean adolescents reported very high rates of depressive symptoms. Hence, the education system in Korea is associated with causing depressive disorder among the adolescents (Ang & Huan, 2006).
Adolescents in East Asia have high rates of depressive symptoms that include poor eyesight, stomachaches, dysphoric emotions, aggressive impulses, helplessness feelings, concentration problems, dizziness, frequent urination, appetite changes, headaches, and loss of interest in life (Lee & Larson, 2000). These symptoms develop among these students because of the “examination hell”, which they have to pass through. The entrance examination is given once in the final high school year. The society has the perception of graduating from high ranking university correlates with getting good jobs, good marriage, high social status, and high wages (Ang & Huan, 2006). As such, students are compelled to prepare heavily for the examinations with a hope of being admitted into college.
The high prevalence among East Asian adolescents including South Korean students is strongly correlated to the “examination hell” or “examination war”. This refers to the East Asian adolescents going through strenuous and onerous preparation for the highly competitive university entrance examinations (Cho, 1993). This preparation for further education ought to be associated with stress — the fundamental cause for depression among South Korean youth. A survey has shown that half of the 3089 respondents aged 15 to 19 mentioned that studying and the overall school life concerned them and stressed them out (The Philippines News Agency, 2011). The findings are further supported by Juon et al (1994). In a stratified random sample of 9886 high school students in Korea, it was found that Korean adolescents experienced academic stress which was associated with suicidal behaviors and depression.
School
Robotham (2008) argues that stress develops because of the perception of an individual that he or she lacks the resources of coping with situations from the past, future or present. As such, students experience significant stress levels, which are associated with the high rate of the development of mental health problems. As student transition from home to university, they incur high levels of stress. There is negative and positive stress. Positive stress helps in responding to emergency situations while negative stress is detrimental to the health status of an individual. Hence, the school should provide an environmental setup, which ensures that students have the capability to develop positive stress. Negative stress is dangerous because it leads towards the development of MDD among the students.
Students face stress stressors that include the need to meet the deadlines of the assessments, too much workload, and the fear of failure (Robotham, 2008). These develop because students have a weakness of managing their time effectively. For learners who can control their time, they experience less stress. A stud...