Feeling sad

Lately Lindsay hasn’t felt like herself. Her friends have noticed it, too. Kia was surprised when Lindsay turned down her invitation to go shopping last Saturday (she always loves to shop). There was really no reason not to go, but Lindsay just didn’t feel like it. Instead, she spent most of Saturday sleeping.
But staying in more than usual isn’t the only change in Lindsay. She’s always been a really good student, but over the past couple of months her marks at school have fallen pretty dramatically, and she has trouble concentrating. She’s even failed a couple of tests, and she hasn’t yet done an essay that was due last week.

When she gets home from school, she’s not hungry for dinner. Though she usually manages to eat a little something, she just doesn’t have much of an appetite - and nothing seems to taste as good as it used to. After dinner, Lindsay just goes to her room. She’s not even in the mood to talk on the phone or go out with her friends.

When her foster-carer asks her what’s wrong, Lindsay feels like crying but doesn’t know why. Everything seems wrong, yet nothing particularly bad has happened. Lindsay just feels sad all the time and can’t shake it. Lindsay may not realise it yet, but she is depressed.

What is depression?

Everyone has some ups and downs, and occasional sadness is a normal emotion. The normal stresses of life can cause children and young people to feel sad every once in a while. Things like an argument with a friend, a break up, doing badly on a test, not being chosen for a sport, a best friend moving out of town, or the death of someone you love can lead to feelings of sadness, hurt, disappointment, or grief. These reactions are usually brief and go away with a little time and care.

Depression is more than feeling blue, sad, or down in the dumps once in a while, though. Depression has been described as a ‘sadness that won’t go away’. It is a strong mood involving sadness, discouragement, despair, or hopelessness that lasts for weeks, months, or even longer, and interferes with a person’s ability to participate in their normal activities.

Depression is very common and affects as many as one in eight people in their adolescent years. Depression affects people of every culture, race, economic status, or age; however, it does seem to affect more females than males during adolescence and adulthood.