Depression
What is depression?
Depression is an illness which can affect anyone at any age. It affects at least 2 in 100 children under 12 years and 5 in every 100 teenagers. It is even more common in adults.
What causes depression?
As with adults, there is not always an obvious reason why children and young people become depressed; it is often a mixture of things. Factors which contribute are:
- Losing a parent or loved one through death, divorce or separation
- Changing school or moving home
- Becoming part of a new family such as a step-family
- Tension and disagreements within the family (e.g. arguments, or worries due to financial pressures and unemployment)
- Having a depressed or anxious parent
- Loneliness or feelings of isolation
- Feeling unfairly treated or unloved
- Problems at school (not doing well, fear of failure, bullying, being left out)
- Worrying about sexual matters
- Physical illness
- Anxiety about the future
- Being abused physically, sexually or emotionally
Risk factors
Some people are more at risk of suffering from depression than others. For instance, there is a greater risk of depression in young people who:
- come from ‘broken’ homes
- have lost a parent in early life
- have suffered from abuse or neglect
- live in inner city areas where there are high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime
- depression also runs in some families
Signs of depression
- Feeling moody, irritable, easily upset, tearful
- Loss of interest in things you normally enjoy like friends and hobbies
- Becoming withdrawn; finding it difficult to enjoy the company of family and friends
- Difficulty concentrating; daydreaming
- Being ultra-critical of yourself and your abilities
- Blaming yourself
- Hating yourself, feeling useless, stupid and unwanted
- Feeling unhappy, miserable and lonely a lot of the time
- Sleep problems: difficulty getting to sleep or waking up very early
- Chronic tiredness and lack of energy
- Not eating enough or eating too much
- Not looking after yourself
- Acting recklessly e.g. taking drugs, drinking too much; getting into dangerous situations
- If very depressed, may be preoccupied with thoughts about death/wanting to end life or may take an overdose or cut themselves (self-harm).
What can you do about it?
If you think you (or someone you know) may be depressed, it is very important that you find someone to talk to who will understand and can help.
You could go and see a school counsellor or school nurse if you are still at school. Your GP may also be able to help.
As well as finding someone to talk to about your feelings, you may also need some practical help like finding somewhere to live or getting someone to sort out a bullying situation at school.
What treatment is available for depression?
Support from family
Sometimes with mild episodes of depression, people find that the support of family and friends is enough to help symptoms improve by themselves.
If the symptoms last more than two weeks though, people may need to seek professional advice from their GP. The most effective ways of treating depression are a combination of medication and talking therapies.
Medication
Anti-depressants will help to relieve the symptoms and prevent future episodes occurring, but it may take 2-6 weeks before they start working.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is helpful in teaching people to identify and challenge faulty negative thinking patterns. GPs should be able to refer you to an appropriate psychotherapist. Other activities such as regular exercise can also help to lift depression.
Problem solving skills
Learning problem solving skills can help in developing positive ways of coping with some of the factors that may have played a part in triggering depression.
The key elements of problem solving include:
- Clearly defining the problem you are trying to solve. State in specific and concrete terms what the problem actually is.
- If there are many problems, take one problem at a time to deal with.
- Think about what your desired outcome to the problem would be.
- Think about different solutions/options for resolving your problem. To generate possibilities, it may help to “brainstorm”, naming any possible solutions no matter how off the wall they might seem.
- Look at each possible solution and weigh up the pros and cons. Choose the one that seems to have more positive consequences than the others.
- Start putting this solution into place
- Measure up the outcome of this solution – did it have the desired effect? If not, go back and try and work out why, and repeat the whole problem solving process again if necessary.
Severe depression
If a person has severe depression which causes suicidal feelings, they may need to have treatment from a specialist mental health team either in hospital or in the community. They will be able to offer intensive support and formulate a treatment plan.
