Depression

What is depression and who can get it?

Depression is more than just feeling upset or sad. It’s a serious illness that leaves you feeling down most of the time and finding it hard to cope from day to day.

Did you know that around 160,000 young people aged 16-24 years live with depression, so it’s a common illness. Girls are more likely than boys to get depression, but boys often find it harder to talk about their feelings and get help.


Depression is the most common mental health problem for young people. Around one in five young people will have experienced depression by the time they reach adulthood.

Depression is an illness which can lead to problems with alcohol (including binge drinking), cigarettes and other drugs, low self-esteem and taking risks with your health and that of others.

Depression can also have long-term effects. Depression may lead to young people dropping out of school or quitting their jobs, which could further affect their social lives and career options. People who’re depressed as young people are often at risk of depression in adulthood as well. And untreated depression is a risk factor for suicidal behaviour.

However, the good news is that depression can be treated. There are a lot of different options available to help manage the illness.

 

Who/what programs can help?
 

Suicide Hotline (US, UK, Canada & Singapore): 1-800-SUICIDE (2433)

Depression hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Crisis Line: 1-800-999-9999

National Suicide Prevention Helpline: 1-800-273-TALK (8245)

National Adolescent Suicide Helpline: 1-800-621-4000

Postpartum Depression: 1-800-PPD-MOMS

NDMDA Depression Hotline – Support Group: 1-800-826-3632

Crisis Help Line – For Any Kind of Crisis: 1-800-233-4357

Suicide & Depression Crisis Line – Covenant House: 1-800-999-9999

 headspace (see page on site for detalis)

 Your school chaplin can help you, you can speak to him about depression and everything is confidencial unless your life is at risk.

What causes depression?


Often, people think you “get depressed” because something’s gone wrong with your life – for example, you’ve gone through a bad break-up or failed an exam. However, research shows that usually, there isn’t one reason for a person developing depression. Often, it’s the result of a combination of several factors that put young people at risk of developing depression

It’s not easy to say what causes depression, its different for each person.

Sometimes a difficult time in your life can set off depression and sometimes it’s caused by a combination of things that build up over time. Sometimes, there is no obvious cause at all.

A difficult experience, such as the loss of someone close to you, may lead to depression or it might make you more likely to have depression if other things go wrong when you’re older.
Other negative things can increase your chance of getting depression for example:

• being abused or bullied
• feeling that you are doing badly at work or school
• having bad experiences with your family (especially when you were young).
• family history of mental illness
• parents having depression or another mental illness
• family arguments, separation, divorce
• brothers or sisters moving out of home
• poor self esteem
• not getting on with friends or family
• not copings
• stress
• not being able to talk to people
• not having people to talk to
• being in debt
• putting yourself down
• feeling lonely.

I think that if you are diagnosed with depression you should seek help as soon as possible. it might seem like you cant talk to anyone or you think no one will listen and that you dont belong here but really there are so many people that care, and you cant no whats in your future. Things get better if you speak to people about it and they can relate to your struggles