hey I'm Ellie and this is Len hey last year I was diagnosed with depression Len
was there to see the whole thing go down you've probably heard the words
depression before but might not know exactly what depression means let's say
you get some bad news huh oh my god I just saw your boyfriend holding hands
with Jenny at the mall she is so over you things like breakups
are painful and might make you feel sad frustrated angry or heartbroken but
trust me most teens go through that kind of stuff depression is something
completely different check this out think of the thermostat
in your house or apartment when the temperature in your house gets too cold
the heat kicks in and brings the temperature back to just right your
brain works a lot like the thermostat let me show you let's say this line is
the just right mood and these two dotted lines are the happy and sad range of
emotions that you might feel whenever like the thermostat in your house when
your mood goes down your brain makes changes to bring your mood back up when
your mood goes up your brain makes changes to bring your mood back down to
that just right level when I was depressed it was like the thermostat my
brain broke my mood started going down and I not totally stuck like at the
super low level that's when depression came into my life
when I was depressed there were some really obvious signs that something was
wrong my sleep changed I wanted to sleep all the time
I had no energy even brushing my teeth felt overwhelming that sounds stupid but
that's how I felt I lost interest in all the things I used to like it seemed like
nothing made me happy or excited anymore
go ahead to the phone no one wants to talk to you
look at yourself who'd want to be around you I had lots of sad thoughts and
feelings it was like my brain kept saying things to me that I would never
have thought before Ellie I care about you things are gonna get better I
promise you're just having a hard time right now
am I always going to be like this I just feel so sad you're my best friend and I
know you're gonna get through this I think you should talk to someone and try
to get some help just leave me alone I felt like I was on an elevator going
down and I can't get off
I started to think that I'd be better to die than to keep feeling so sad
that scared me I remembered what my friend Lynde said
and I decided to get home I went to see a therapist the therapist told me that
the thoughts of sadness and hopelessness and suicide were my depression talking
my therapist said that as my mood went back up depression would be forced to
leave me alone
the other thing was to take the meds my doctor prescribed me to help my brain
work the way it did before I was depressed
having one support made a huge difference
after taking the meds for a while and talking into my therapist I really
started to feel better life is worth living again I'm just happy you're back
to your old self I told you you'd feel better alright we've got some serious
texting to do so ttyl de precios a serious illness and it is so important
to get help as soon as you start feeling depressed if you are worried that you
might be depressed talk to your doctor and tell him or her how you're feeling
you can also check out this website to learn more about depression