Abstract—The prevalence of youth depression in Malaysia
has increased over the years. This study aims to investigate the
experience of teenage depression. In-depth interviews were
conducted with university students who were diagnosed with
depression in their teens but were in a recovery stage. An
in-depth thematic approach was used for data analysis. The
paper presents two case studies and reveals some depression
narratives in which the participants asked ontological questions
about the meaning of their existence. The themes that emerged
from the teenagers’ depression narratives are in concordance
with Martin Heidegger’s ontological perspective of “What it
means to be in the world”. Findings reveal the themes of “Being
thrown into the world”, “care” and temporality, thus provide
insights for parents and educators to better understand the
society and culture in which the teens are embedded.
Index Terms—Teenage depression, youth depression,
meaning of life, ontological questions.
J. K. Kok was with the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Jalan
Universiti Bandar Barat, 31900 Kampar, Perak, Malaysia. She is now with
the Department of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Arts and Social
Science (e-mail: kokjk@utar. edu.my).
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Cite: Jin Kuan Kok, " The Will to Die and the Will to Live: An Ontological Quest
for Teenagers Who Suffer from Depression, a Study from
Malaysia," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 225-228, 2014.