Read This ---> It Explains What Depression Is.

[TheWizard]

Not only adults become depressed. Children and teenagers also may have depression, which is a treatable illness. Depression is defined as an illness when the feelings of depression persist and interfere with a child or adolescent=s ability to function.

About 5 percent of children and adolescents in the general population suffer from depression at any given point in time. Children under stress, who experience loss, or who have attentional, learning, conduct or anxiety disorders are at a higher risk for depression. Depression also tends to run in families.

The behavior of depressed children and teenagers may differ from the behavior of depressed adults. Child and adolescent psychiatrists advise parents to be aware of signs of depression in their youngsters.

If one or more of these signs of depression persist, parents should seek help:

Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying
Hopelessness
Decreased interest in activities; or inability to enjoy previously favorite activities
Persistent boredom; low engergy
Social isolation, poor communication
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
Difficulty with relationships
Frequent complaints of physical illnesses such as headaches and stomachaches
Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school
Poor concentration
A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns
Talk of or efforts to run away from home
Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self destrubtive behavior


The Depressed Child, "Facts for Families," No. 4 (9/98)

A child who used to play often with friends may now spend most of the time alone and without interests. Things that were once fun now bring little joy to the depressed child. Children and adolescents who are depressed may say they want to be dead or may talk about suicide. Depressed children and adolescents are at increased risk for committing suicide. Depressed adolescents may abuse alcohol or other drugs as a way to feel better.

Children and adolescents who cause trouble at home or at school may actually be depressed but not know it. Because the youngster may not always seem sad, parents and teachers may not realize that troublesome behavior is a sign of depression. When asked directly, these children can sometimes state they are unhappy or sad.

Early diagnosis and medical treatment are essential for depressed children. This is a real illness that requires professional help. Comprehensive treatment often includes both individual and family therapy. It may also include the use of antidepressant medication. For help, parents should ask their physician to refer them to a child and adolescent psychiatrist, who can diagnose and treat depression in children and teenagers.

[-Silence]

Sounds like me.. :cry:

Thank you.

[Inuyasha4]

I just feel like I'm empty and when I'm around friends I feel like I pretend to be happy.

If depression runs in my family ( grandma, mom, both brothers) what are the chances that I have it?

[Doug]

This sound exactly like me.

[dying lullaby]

I just feel like I'm empty and when I'm around friends I feel like I pretend to be happy.

If depression runs in my family ( grandma, mom, both brothers) what are the chances that I have it?

wow word for word, thats just like me just add a few more relatives to the list

[GuidedByTheWind]

I just feel like I'm empty and when I'm around friends I feel like I pretend to be happy.

If depression runs in my family ( grandma, mom, both brothers) what are the chances that I have it?
Yep sounds like me! Except I dunno if people have been depressed in my fam.... I hate the fact that I act as if everything's normal because then my friends and I can't talk about it...

[Track 14]

omg this has rely shocked me, i am a rely positive person but i kinda told myself i am now depressed today, i know it sounds wierd but i always refused to admit it. most of the listed signs i have, my punctuality at school is about%70 witch is very bad my mum may get find. my empathy is unbeleavable, a knocked over a glass of pop and i have never actually got over it, i felt like i had killed the thing. my boredom is critical, i mean it got to the extent that the other day i got mum to buy me a game and the man said it was huge and i completed it in two days. the doctor says i am depressed, but we have recently moved so i now have stopped travelling to him so far away. i havnt got one anymore. i have 3 mates and i hardly now them at all (i have friends were i used to live). i just dont make them easy. i know girls are rely interested in me, i get asked out all the time but i always reject them bcus i feel they wont to use me or there too good for me. even if i like them in return, im becomin agrophobic. i only leave my bedroom to go shop, kitchen, bathroom or school. i feel like such a retard saying all this,bcus i know others are far much worst then me, and it feels freshie like. but i had to give in. i have rely bad troubles telling people how i feel. i first had councelling when i was 5 with a VICOR but i wouldnt talk to him.

if anyone can help please do so.

[dying lullaby]

i'm sorry you feel like that, i know how you feel tho, maybe not exactly but enough to know its not fun...i think you might want to go to a doctor and see if you can get some meds b/c you do sound depressed if not something else. no1 has to live like you do, maybe you could get another shrink...i had one when i was younger but i didnt know y at the time, i was just forced into it. she thought my mom was crazy for thinking i had to go to one but look at me now...sorry. after a while you might get comfortable enough with him to talk to him...or you might keep things bottled up so long that you just explode. i did that to my friend once and it totally helped...i know its hard to even tell your mom that you're not doing so good, but you just have to make that first step in telling someone and then hopefully they'll help you the rest of the way.

i hope i helped some...good luck if you do ask for help

[Chance]

I just feel like I'm empty and when I'm around friends I feel like I pretend to be happy.

If depression runs in my family ( grandma, mom, both brothers) what are the chances that I have it?

Chances are with a family history of it you may get deperssion. If your feeling this way in side. I would talk to a doctor our consler or someone like that. Chances are you may be that way. There are many many forms of depression. I was diganosed with depression and take meds for it everyday. I feel so much better now that I take my meds everyday.

If you think you are and are having the feeling you are having I would sure go to the doctor and tell him what is going on and see what he or she would say.

[Track 14]

yeah thnx btw, depression runs in the familyt with me too, my auntie has just came out a mental instituation, my sister self harms and my nan has to see a councellor bcus she looks after a mentally ill person (my auntie)

[pistol_krig]

deleted

[TheWizard]

Wow I'm so sorry you are that depressed. Sounds like you might benefit from getting on anti-depressants. No need to feel depressed when the cure is only a pill away. It can help you become happy again. Hope this helps.

[pistol_krig]

deleted

[Dfsg]

I was diagnosed with depression late last year. It really got in the way of my life, and my grades dropped, and friendships got worse, my social life died, I thought about death, and all those other fun things that come along with Depression.

I'm out of it now (thanks to a bit of Seretonin). It feels so good to laugh again. I do know how terrible it must be for everyone with depression. I hope everyone suffering from it can find a way to get out of it soon! I'm open to talking about it, if anyone has a rough day.

[samfoshort]

hi i am sam hi sam i am i am very depressed and i need help because i am sam. please help me i have a serious problem and i need serious help.

[I_smile_because_I_have_to]

Everybody thinks that I i'm this happy girl with many friends, work hard at school, and loves life...Well, surprise, I don't!

I kinda feel like I'm not such a freak anymore.....theres other people who feel and act like me. I'm not alone anymore! BTW I was just wondering is self-harm a mental illness or w/e? That question is probably soooooooooo stupid but hey!

B.E.C.K.Y
XXX

[dying lullaby]

self harm can be a system of a mental illness or personality disorder, or it could just be an other way to cope. It depends on a lot of other things.

[Inuyasha4]

I don't know where the right place to put this, so you moderators can move it if you like, but i just wanted to say thank you to everyone who replied with suggestions. I went to the doctor, I do have depression, and I am doing pretty well in treatment, I am taking Zoloft, which is an anti-depressant, I don't feel great, but I do feel better. Just for all you people who are unsure, go to your doctor and find out. I still have a long road ahead of me, but at least I am on the right path for getting better. Once again thank you, you most likely saved my life.

[TheWizard]

Wow thats so cool.

Thanks everyone :)

[///James///]

Me in a nut shell!

[TheWizard]

I know how you feel. It sucks. I try to hide it but sometimes I just can't.

[sharkie]

I have 13 out of those 15 things and im only 16, is that bad news?

[Φρανκομβριτ]

Wow, and I alway looked for a description of myself, when it was right here!

[TMTY]

i dont know what to think anymore about my dad since i never even met him. i dont even know his name.

[Funkyjord]

That sounds like me...
But there is times when im with my best mate and i act crazy and happy,
And there is times... LOADS OF TIMES! when i want to committ suicide but i just think of my grandma's face and my aunty and they help me cope through the sadness. :cry:

[WelshLad]

i've always thought of myself as a happy person. over the past few months i seemed to have devloped these systems. theres the odd moment where i ask myself would i be missed if i was gone? is there anything to live for?

[m_shell]

it always scares me when i read things like this. cause im like "thats me." I just wish i could go back a couple yrs ago when i was happy. i want that feeling again.

[Luis]

Hi,

I was in college and my first serious relationship failed after a couple of years dating this girl. I fell into a pretty bad depression that made me hate her so much. That hatred was killing me, by the way. I had never thought of finding advice in books or things like that, but one of the professors suggested that I read a book by an author named Guy Finley entitled "The Secret of Letting Go". Basically, it shows you that it is not what happened that causes you to suffer, but an aspect of you mind that makes it into a painful scenario that it loves to revisit over and over. Sort of a masochistic affair with my own mind, totally in love with its painful interpretation of what happened.
Basically, one suffers because one thinks back on what happened when there is really no real need to.
Finley says: "The next time depression takes you over, think toward it instead of from it. What this means is that you are to realize in the moment of being taken over by the darkness that you are simply wrongly involved in thinking about your state from the state itself. This is exactly how negative states take us captive. See the depression as a temporary imposition instead of accepting the position the state is telling you that you must accept. Work at this. Your efforts will be rewarded."
This is pretty illuminating, I think. For any of you who would like to know more about this man and his work, www.guyfinley.org is chock full of articles and good stuff (for free!).
Hope this helps. It helped me.
Luis

[mRojas2000]

the website looks pretty cool... it looks like the guy can trully understand people!

[terith]

appaerntly im thw start of the depression line in my family :( :( :( aghh i hate my life!!!

[terith]

wow....my life story :( i hve 14/15 of em...and im 13..should i b worried???

[megamikey59]

I don't care. I know I'm depressed. I've read that all and all the fun stuff that used to be fun just are completely boring to me. And I say I hate everything and everything is boring even when I laugh. Laughing is boring to me. *sighs* I'm bored!
I have all of them so I guess I'm seriously depressed! And I get mad almost as easily and a girl on her period gets. I know about girls on periods cause of Victoria. She gets sooo mad sooo easily. She punched me in the face cause I said hi to her. lmao.

[sashoma]

this sounds kinda like me, only thing that don't apply 2 me is performance in school.....

[thesphinx]

I scored 30/30 on a depression test ( major depression disorder ) it effects school sleep motivation, i have it all the aches and pains the lonelyness i really dont know if it gets much wors than i have it.
but dont worry im going to fight it :)

[A to the J]

ok lol thanks for that.

[supramk5]

yeah sounds like me, I seek help, anyone help me?

[Crazysam]

i think im depressed in fact fuck it im definately depressed

[daily2007]

well thats says it all.... im depressed

[chucknorrisrules]

It sounds a lot like me. I used to like school and spending time with my friends, but now I have to act happy. It's so hard trying to fit in. I also have a bit of monophobia (fear of being alone) and it's hard to stop that fear from coming, I don't know what to talk about and don't really want to talk to anybody. Then the monophobia kicks in and I'm just "Emo" as you might say. I want to tell my mom, but she doesn't listen to me. The wierd thing is that all my other family is very happy. So, maybe it's just me. I know it sounds gay. but sometimes I do cry myself to sleep. It's hard to keep a macho image when depression won't leave you alone. Thanks for listening, or reading...whatever...

[LateForTheSky]

Depretion mostly caused by insecurity, loss (not necessaraly death) and rejection. Those are the signs I noticed in myself as I tried to commit suecide

[Jijjin]

Social isolation, poor communication
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Difficulty with relationships

This sounds like me.

[whiterecyclables94]

im not sure if im depressed or not...but i have some of the symptoms
Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Poor concentration
poor performance in school

[thesphinx]

im not sure if im depressed or not...but i have some of the symptoms
Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Poor concentration
poor performance in school

I would recommend talking to someone to find out. sounds like it to me though.

[thesonicguy]

Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying
Hopelessness
Decreased interest in activities; or inability to enjoy previously favorite activities
Persistent boredom; low engergy
Social isolation, poor communication
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
Difficulty with relationships
Frequent complaints of physical illnesses such as headaches and stomachaches
Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school
Poor concentration
A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns
Talk of or efforts to run away from home
Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying
Hopelessness
Decreased interest in activities; or inability to enjoy previously favorite activities
Persistent boredom; low engergy
Social isolation, poor communication
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
Difficulty with relationships
Frequent complaints of physical illnesses such as headaches and stomachaches
Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school
Poor concentration
A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns
Talk of or efforts to run away from home
Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self destrubtive behavior

Thats sounds like me for the past 7 days! :(

[hello111]

Hopelessness
Decreased interest in activities; or inability to enjoy previously favorite activities
Persistent boredom; low engergy
Low self esteem and guilt
Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
Increased irritability, anger, or hostility
Difficulty with relationships
Frequent complaints of physical illnesses such as headaches and stomachaches
Poor concentration
A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns
Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self destrubtive behavior

Me :( i keep going in and out of depression :confused:

[The Resurrected One]

Frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying

Yes.

Hopelessness

Yes.

Decreased interest in activities; or inability to enjoy previously favorite activities

I'm starting to get back to it, but earlier yes, I had this.

Persistent boredom; low engergy

Yes.

Social isolation, poor communication

YES! :(

Low self esteem and guilt

Eh, well, kinda, but not really...

Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure

Yes.

Increased irritability, anger, or hostility

Uh, yeah. :(

Difficulty with relationships

Real life relationships, yes. I have no friends. :(

Frequent complaints of physical illnesses such as headaches and stomachaches

No.

Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school

Big time. In fact, I don't even go right now. :(

Poor concentration

I don't know. More likely...no.

A major change in eating and/or sleeping patterns

Kind of.

Talk of or efforts to run away from home

Rarely.

Thoughts or expressions of suicide or self destrubtive behavior

No, not anymore. But a while back it was rarely.

[dem.re.cmd.exe]

Low self esteem and guilt

Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure

Increased irritability, anger, or hostility

Difficulty with relationships


Well, that's me in a nutshell. Especially the extreme sensitivity to failure or rejection.

[Tatsuya]

this is my first time of depression......i dont know what to do:cry: i cant cry.....:(

[Gumleaf]

these symptons are the things i have been feeling a bit in the last few weeks.

[geiri94]

Is it normal always to wake up tired? And today my teacher starts asking me some weird questions about if i have a hard time studying. And i know it sounds like i am a very emotional person but i almost started crying (but i did not becuse that would have been super humiliating). And plus all that i am almost always tired. And always when i am around my friends i try to be as glad as i can be but i does not always work.

Is there something wrong with me? Yes or No?:confused:

[Maverick]

Are you getting much sleep?

[geiri94]

I think so. I normal sleep 8 hours and in the weekends like 11.

[Techno Monster]

I was depressed in the 7th grade but my mom didn't believe me... but it dosent matter because I am better now.

[RRDoLLY]

I feel alone and desolet in this world... I dont think I could ever maintain a relation... I dont get sad about tragities anymore.. infact I cant help but laugh at some seriously hurt... I dont think I could ever realy love someone... I dont let people get emotionaly attatched and keep my distance... i hate feeling this way and im angry alot... This world couldnt understand

[Nihilus]

wow
Don't you get depressed from abusing alchol