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The National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health found that among teens surveyed in the United States rates of depression were significantly higher among those who were sexually active than among those who were not.
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Sexuality & Mental Health
Teen Sex & Mental Health
Girls who were sexually active are more than three times more likely to be depressed, and boys who were sexually active are more than twice as likely to be depressed, than those who were not sexually active. (1)
"The link between teen sexual activity and depression is supported by clinical experience," says doctor of adolescent medicine, Meg Meeker. "Teen sexual activity routinely leads to emotional turmoil, psychological distress, empty relationships, feelings of self-contempt and worthlessness; all precursors to depression." (2)
The link between early on-set of sexual activity and suicide is clear. Three times more sexually active girls reported having attempted suicide than girls who were not. Sexually active boys were eight times more likely to attempt suicide than boys who were not.
In a recent poll, teens were asked whether they wished they had waited longer to initiate their first sexual experience. Two-thirds reported "yes". Sixty-three percent wished they had waited. (3)
In the words of a psychiatrist who recalls the effects of her sexual experimentation in her teens, "The longest-standing, deepest wound I gave myself was that sick, used feeling of having given a precious part of myself--my soul--to so many and for nothing. [It] still aches. I never imagined I'd pay so dearly and for so long."
Tom and Judy Lickona, with William Boudreau, M.D., from their book Sex, Love and You (Notre Dame, Ind. Ave Maria Press, 1994), p. 70.
1. Sexually Active Teens to be Depressed and to Attempt Suicide; Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson PhD. and Lauren R. Noyes, Centre for Data Analysis Report #04-04, June 3, 2003.
2. Meg Meeker, Epidemic: How teen sex is killing our kids, Washington, DC; Regnery Publishing Company, 2002, p.64
3. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, "Not Just Another Thing to Do: Teens Talk About Sex, Regret, and the Influence of their Parents," June 30, 2000
