Depression
Depression is something that 1 in 8 teens experience in their lifetime.
This is a mental state of constant sadness as a product of many things that may have happened (or not happened) in a person's life.
Depression is mainly identified as something teenagers go through, one reason behind depression may be because of the bodily changes occurring as the transition between a child and a adult begins, loads of hormones, chemicals and other elements that define a adult from a child are constantly racing round the body and "mood swings" occur.
"Mood swings" are when a person's mood changes from one state to the complete opposite, sometimes the time frame can vary, sometimes it only takes a matter of seconds to change from for example: happy to sad, sometimes though it can take a matter of weeks or months before a person changes back from happy or sad.
The long periods between becoming happy from a state of sadness can be draining and sometimes can seem impossible to cope with.
A sense of hopelessness, can play a part, with feelings of anger, hate, remorse, anxiety, sadness, hurt and fear are some of the many feelings I experienced during this period.
If a person feels there is no way to escape apart from hurting/ killing themselves thoughts about these things can start to plague the mind, subsequently making the person feel even worse about themselves than they were previously...
This is a brainstorm of all the things that could be in connection with depression.
There are many different ways that people deal with depression, some people prefer to draw back from friends and family in order not to pull other people into their grief, some people use the words that the person is singing and use that to sum up how their life is going, these may include lyrics about how people don't care about you and your feelings (this is of course not true).
A lot of people think that asking for help is bad because they feel like if they ask for help, everyone they know will think of them as a wimp or a failure or anything negative that they can think of.
If they have good friends, they could talk to them; but if they really don't have anyone around, it is a very good idea to talk to someone. because if you do that you can really let stress out, get rid of people who might be bullying you or just to get things off your mind.
You need to ask someone as soon any of the Depression Warning Signs (as below):
Or I found a few things that might be symptoms of Clinical Depression on the NHS website
"Psychological symptoms include:
- continuous low mood or sadness
- feeling hopeless and helpless
- having low self-esteem
- feeling tearful
- feeling guilt-ridden
- feeling irritable and intolerant of others
- having no motivation or interest in things
- finding it difficult to make decisions
- not getting any enjoyment out of life
- feeling anxious or worried
- having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself
Physical symptoms include:
- moving or speaking more slowly than usual
- change in appetite or weight (usually decreased, but sometimes increased)
- constipation
- unexplained aches and pains
- lack of energy or lack of interest in sex (loss of libido)
- changes to your menstrual cycle
- disturbed sleep (for example, finding it hard to fall asleep at night or waking up very early in the morning)
Social symptoms include:
- not doing well at work
- taking part in fewer social activities and avoiding contact with friends
- neglecting your hobbies and interests
- having difficulties in your home and family life"
Source :
I find this page really helpful, not only for myself but for other people; so that when you do come out of depression, you know what the signs are and therefore help other people if/when they get depressed, from there you can either: report it to a teacher/ tutor/ responsible adult or try to help them out yourself (or both if you're felling brave)...
As the picture says, there is no shame in asking for help, asking for help thing someone can do to help themselves; but knowing when to ask for help can be the most difficult of all....
You need to ask someone as soon any of the Depression Warning Signs (as below).
Or I found a few things that might be symptoms of Clinical Depression on the NHS website
There are lots of famous people who have suffered from depression too!
Here is a list of some of them:
- Buzz Aldrin, one of America’s most famous astronauts, flew to the moon in 1969, but later suffered from depression and alcoholism. He worked his way through, and even served as chairman of the National Mental Health Association.
- Actor, Marlon Brando experienced chronic depression throughout his life
- Jim Carrey openly discussed his history of depression and being on Prozac on “60 Minutes” in 2004.
