Avery Elizabeth Hurt - Coping with Depression

Published in 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hurt, Avery Elizabeth, author.

Title: Coping with depression / Avery Elizabeth Hurt.

Description: First edition. | New York: Rosen Publishing, 2020. | Series: Coping |

Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades 712.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018060310| ISBN 9781508187288 (library bound) | ISBN

9781508187271 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Depression in adolescenceJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC RJ506.D4 H87 2020 | DDC 616.85/2700835dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018060310

Manufactured in the United States of America

For many of the images in this book, the people photographed are models. The depictions do not imply actual situations or events.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Y ouve probably heard more than one well-meaning adult say something like, These are the best years of your life! To you, it may sound like they have no recollection whatsoever of what it was like to be a teen. Youre trying to get grades that will get you into a decent college so you can prepare for a good career. But you have no idea what you want to do next week, much less for the rest of your life. Of course, good grades arent enough. You also have to take part in extracurricular activities and do community workas if you could find the time for that. It seems like you never get enough sleep.

Meanwhile, your friends are acting weird, and youre not sure where your relationship stands anymore. That person you have a crush on just broke your heartand worse than that, everybody in your class knows about it. Social media is a landmine. If you say something dumb, it will be all over school by morning. If you dont join in, youll have zero friends. And some jerk in tenth grade posted mean things about you on Snapchat.

It seems like its getting harder and harder to get along with your parents. They expect you to act like an adult, but they still treat you like a child. Your brothers and sisters are driving you up a wall. Your body doesnt help, either. Your hormones are all over the place and your face has become the official home for lost acne.

Adolescence is difficult for almost everybody, but most people get through it just fine. Then they grow up to become those adults who are always going on about how wonderful the teens years are.

Some people, however, experience something much worse than typical teenage angst. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about one in five teens will experience depression before they become adults.

Schoolwork and organized activities can often extend into evenings and weekends. That decrease in downtime can increase stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed.

In todays busy world, getting enough quality sleep is harder than ever. But its important to get rest. Lack of sleep is one of the risk factors for depression.

Depression can be relatively mild and short lived, or it can be ongoing and life-threatening. Whatever form depression takes, it is serious. Depression can lead to suicide, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is the second-leading cause of death in people ages fifteen to nineteen.

All this sounds pretty dismal, but actually there is some very good news about depression. In recent years, scientists have learned a great deal about the illness. Theyve been able to dismiss a lot of stereotypes and myths. Theyve demonstrated that depression is a biological illness, not just moodiness or an inability to cope. Theyve also found many new and effective ways to treat depression. In the coming pages, you will learn what depression is, whom it affects, and what you can do if you or someone you love suffers from this all-too-common illness.

Health care professionals have a wealth of therapies and techniques for treating depression. This makes the outlook for people with depression more hopeful than it has ever been.

CHAPTER ONE

What Depression Isand What ItS Not

P eople often say things like, That was a depressing movie, or, All these rainy days have made me depressed or The new school uniforms are so depressing. But these feelings arent really depressionat least not the kind of depression that is the focus of this book. So, what is depression? It might be easier to start by talking about what it is not.

Not Just Sadness

When people think of depression, they often think of sadness. Sadness can be a part of depression, but its not the only or even the primary symptom of the illness. A person can be very sad, but not depressed. Its perfectly normaland not a sign of illnessto feel sad when something bad happens. Failing a big test or having a fight with parents or a friend can make a person feel sad. If a beloved pet dies or a best friend moves away, almost anyone would feel sad. This is not depression. Its just a normal reaction to a life event.

Clinical depression is far more than just the rainy-day blues. However, feeling sadespecially for no reasonand not getting over it quickly can be a sign of depression.

Sometimes people think that depression is just a kind of moodinesssort of like being out of sorts or in a snit. But thats not what depression is either. Depression is one of a group of illnesses called mood disorders, but it is far more than just being moody. When people are depressed, they might feel all kinds of emotions, including anger, irritability, and, yes, sadness. Or they may have trouble feeling any emotions. People who suffer from depression often say that the worst part of the illness is that they feel empty and cant seem to care about anything at all. Depression can cause people to have trouble sleeping. Or it can make them just want to sleep all the time. People with depression can lose their appetites. Or they might overeat. They can have trouble paying attention or completing tasks. They can feel scatterbrained and have memory problems. But these are just symptoms of depression, not the disease itself.

All these different feelings can make it hard to understand exactly what depression is. But one thing is clear, depression is not a normal reaction to life. It is not just moodiness, sadness, or the blues It is an illness. Difficulties and stresses in life can contribute to depression; sometimes they can even trigger an episode of depression. But the illness itself is a disorder of the brain. Depression is a medical condition. And it is one that can be treated.

Why Me?

Depression is a serious problem among all ages and all types of people. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in the United States, women are far more likely to suffer from depression than men, and teenage girls are slightly more likely to suffer from depression than men and teenage boys. (Among children, before puberty, girls and boys seem to have roughly the same rates of depression.) But dont be fooled. Guys of all ages get depression, too. The CDC also points out that people who live in poverty are more likely to be depressed than people who are more financially secure. But no matter what their social or racial background, anyone can get depression. And according to data gathered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one of the times in life when you are at the greatest risk of depression is during adolescence.