Depression is an illness that affects many people. Depression is caused by abuse, medications, conflicts, death, personal problems, but most importantly because of major events in a person's life such as a new job, graduating, or getting married, moving, losing a job or income, getting divorced, or retiring. Major events such losing a job and also having poor income is greatly faced by many USA citizens around these times. My family and I have experienced depression first hand. My mother suffered from depression due to many things. The need for money was the first reason. My father had not been working for over four month. Food was scarce, the electricity had been cut for almost two weeks, and we had bills to pay. We were desperate for money. My mother would not leave her room. She would cry and be worried and the depression she had was so severe that she even stopped that we were going to have money for necessities. Depression experienced by men and women in the USA can result from a struggling economic status.
Most problems in the USA are hard to solve. The issue of severe economy is not a new problem, it continues to be a threat to financial stability. Author Arnesen (2006) discusses how bad the economy started in the 1930s. The Great Depression was when the economy is similar to the economy now because in the 1900s the stock market crashed. The crash brought upon the people depression due to lack of money. No money to eat, go to school, day to day necessities, medicines and the bank had no more money in the bank. All the people who had money in the bank no longer had nothing, the rich people were no longer rich. This suggests that people experienced financial crisis. This applies to the issue of loss of employment “ as businesses cut jobs... people earn less”, people began to depend on their jobs to support their family and once they no longer had jobs there was no way the family could be taken care of. The “New Deal” by Franklin D. Roosevelt only helped some people get jobs back, leaving many to suffer (Arnesen, 2006). This illustrates that during economic crisis only some benefit and others are left alone. People who were left to suffer had to leave had to leave their homes, children, alone just to go out and try to get a job and make a miserable amount of money. The “New Deal” was created to offer help to all people most importantly jobs. Even with some “help” provided the depression of not having anything went away.
Unemployment is most definitely not a new problem and it has not only been a problem of the present day but it has been for quite a while now. It is a threat to the US, Sumser (2010) discussed that many people are identified by what kind of jobs they have. The typical question of “What do you do?” sometimes haunts the person being asked specially those who are unemployed. This suggests that a lot of people not only become depressed because they are unemployed and have no money for their families but also because they do not want other people to know the conditions they are living in. The people being asked about their jobs not only are in a pressure to find a job to support their families but are also faced with being criticized by others. The more the people get depressed the less chances they actually do get the opportunity to go out and look for jobs and actually get them.For example, “the current unemployment rate is 12.1% with other places reaching mid 20’s (Sumser 2010). This illustrates that with time, unemployment is seen more and more. The unemployed people have really no jobs out there waiting for them with open arms since as days pass the less jobs are available for people. If the unemployment rate keeps on increasing so rapidly it will eventually lead to the US following another “Great Depression”.
The issue of job requirements is starting to become a more seen problem. Job requirements are a threat to people who cannot fill in those requirements in order to get a job. Not being able to get a job is depressing because being capable to hold a job in not only what is necessary to work but there are also some requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to start working. Some possible job requirements would be a high school diploma for simple jobs, certain age, legal status, careers, and soon enough maybe even race. This suggests that not all people can have a job in the US. The US at the time is a difficult place to live in, the opportunities that supposedly gives to people are all a facade. For example, I have family members and friends who are not able to have a stable job to support their families. The people I know have struggled almost all of their lives in order to make a few dollars to take home and feed and buy basic necessities. The people always find themselves working at a unstable job maybe for a day and the next day they have to go out again and search. These people aren’t secured food or a home for the next day.
Also when it comes to jobs some have to be watching themselves from the police. There are certain rules that jobs could not be given to those who are illegal. The illegal people have to be hiding from the police all of the time so that they won’t get in any sort of trouble or maybe even deported. Being caught by police almost always ends up with having many troubles, no longer having a job and for immigrants from all over the world the only reason why they come to the US is to work, how are they going to work if they can’t even fill into the requirement? This illustrates that not all the people in the US have an easy time getting a job and being able to work without being at risk of losing everything they have.
A major issue that causes depression due to the economy is foreclosures. This is not a recent problem over the last few years foreclosures have continued to increase and also threat many citizens. Around my community there are many homes that are all covered up and closed. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine states that “the foreclosure crisis is also a health crisis” (Craig E. Pollack, MD, MHS). “When people purchase homes, they are buying a piece of the American Dream... Losing a home can be especially devastating because it means the loss of this dream. When this happens, there is reason to worry not only about the health of the homeowner but also that of family members and the broader community they live in” (Julia Lynch, PhD). This implies that the issue of foreclosures have people worried about how the family will have to spend the next days or the future.
The American Dream is a part of every person's life. The reason why people want to accomplish this “American Dream” is because they want a better life for all their families. Connecting this to my personal life I recall once not very long ago my father had been unemployed for a while he was talking to my mother and I happened to be able to hear their conversation he said that he could not sleep thinking of how he was going to come up with the money for the rent of the present month and the last 3 months he wasn’t able to pay. During that time my father received a foreclosure letter and he gathered my family and told us that there was going to be a limit to the amount of money that we would be able to spend. He told us that we were not going to be able to go out as much and buy what we want. Even though that letter my father received was a while ago he still gets that foreclosure letter sometimes. He finds himself pressured to find money somehow in order to pay for my family and I to have a home.
The issue of education is also relevant to the connection of depression due to the economy because the economy, money is what basically in the US gives us the people the opportunity to get what we want. This issue is a major issue for those who live in low income communities. This suggests that that there are many young people who now at days due to the economy leave school to work and have money to help at home or to keep themselves in a good position. Living in a low income community alone is not helpful because you don not get as much resources as others. Some youth that depend on jobs depend on that money to be able to pay for school. Since now there is a high unemployment rate young people do not have jobs therefore many cannot afford school and a career and students tend to drop out. An education is a career and if students do not have the money to pay for school they will have no financial stability and they will also stay living in the same conditions they probably live in now. This illustrates that education does not tend to motivate students and young people due to the lack of opportunity to pay for schooling.
In conclusion depression is caused by the economy. Now at days money is needed for everything. The economy has been down for a few years now and the way it had caused depression amongst people is by not having enough money to pass by and overcome living in the poor conditions that they live in. Jobs offered have requirements and many people who need the jobs do not qualify. Without a job many are left with little money and are not able to pay rent, food, water, electricity, and basic needs. Unemployment and not having money makes education not affordable, therefore, the less people will get good paying jobs that will make them come out of the poor living conditions and set them free from depression.