JUST THE FACTS

What is a depressive disorder?

A depressive disorder is a disease that affects mood, thoughts and behavior. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. The greatest obstacle to treating depression is lack of recognition. When a "bad day" turns into a bad week, month, or more, there may be a medical explanation for this change in behavior or feelings of hopelessness. Fortunately, appropriate treatment can help more than 90% of those who suffer from depression.

Depression and teens

Experts estimate that 5% of all teenagers will suffer from depression. Unfortunately, only 20% of depressed teens are appropriately diagnosed and treated. When diagnosing a mood disorder, adolescents can be at a disadvantage. The symptoms of depression and bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) in young people can differ from adults. Symptoms can be missed if you don't know what to look for. Read on to learn more.

Well meaning parents or teachers may think that a young person is unhappy or moody because it's a natural part of being young. This is especially true for adolescents, who are expected to be "hormonal" and rebellious. Persistent unhappiness or moodiness is not normal for anyone.

Depression is a medical illness

Depression is a medical illness caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. In the brain, neurons send messages from one nerve ending to another across synapses. Neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, are chemicals that help transfer information. In depression, these neurons do not function normally, which leads to changes in a person’s thoughts, feelings and behavior. Antidepressant medications work to restore proper chemical balance in the brain.

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You're thinking of doing it. Maybe pills, maybe a razor blade, maybe a fiery crash in the car. The world around you is dark and impossible, and there are times when you don't even have the strength to think about what might come next. You're not sleeping or you're sleeping all the time, you're not eating (at least not anything that is good for you), your sexual drive is non-existent. You don't want to talk about it to anyone. As a matter of fact, you've kept just about everyone in your life at arms' length - just to be with them is painful, intrusive.

The people around you spend all their time telling you how worried they are about you. You answer that you're fine, or that you're just tired. Then you go back to your room and close the door.

You think about death all the time: how it would feel, how it might happen, what comes after. There are days when it is so painful to keep going that death feels like the best solution.

There's a name for what you're going through. It's called Clinical Depression. It's not a fault or a weakness or a failure. It's a disease. It comes, not from your feelings or your experience or your personality, but from your body. And, with the help of a doctor, it can be fixed.

Depressed people don't like to talk very much, especially about their depression, but that doesn't mean they're not looking for answers. We hope you will find some of your answers here. This web site has been created by people who have been where you are now. We have all beaten depression, and we know you can, too.

Treating depression takes a little time, but not as much time as you have spent feeling lousy. Treating depression involves working with a good psychiatrist who knows something about psychopharmacology (the study of medication which can correct mood and affective disorders) and we'll tell you how to find one near you. Treating depression involves a treatment program which may include medication or talk therapy, but treatment is always easier than you would imagine. Most of all, treating depression is successful. You can have your life back. You can feel good again.