Depression: Karey's Story
By Mckayla, age 15, Canada
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
Depression. We all know what it is. Depression is the imbalance of chemicals in your brain causing you not to act like yourself. Depression makes you feel down and helpless. As you may have noticed, mostly it's adults who get depression. You would never think a child or teen could get it...at least I never thought that.
My best friend Karey* is fourteen years old. She's smart, humorous, and has a pretty good life. We've been best friends for 5 years, and I would never have thought anything could go wrong with her. At the end of 2009, Karey started to miss a lot of school and continued with the habit through the beginning of this year. I didn't notice that anything was wrong, but teachers at her school did.
One day Karey was called into the office to talk about why she missed so much school. She didn't have an excuse. The person she spoke to said that she was falling behind, and since she didn't have an excuse for not going to school that maybe she should see a doctor to check for depression. Another teacher at her school noticed something too and told Karey the same thing.
About a week later Karey didn't go to school for the week. She spoke to a counselor that week, and although the counselor didn't exactly say she had depression, she gave Karey a book to do activities in to help her out a bit. The following week Karey went to speak to someone else, and this time the counselor actually said that Karey was suffering from depression.
I was surprised to hear this. When she told me I actually started noticing the signs in her. I would have never thought my best friend who is only fourteen could have depression. It is not at a severe level, just a minor level. I have faith in her though, and I know she can and will get through it like others have.
The point of this article isn't to say that all teens will get depression. It's just so you're aware that teens can get it, and to watch for the signs. If you notice any signs of depression in yourself or someone else, talk to them or to someone who can help. Tell them what you've noticed because you can help yourself or the person.
I am thankful that Karey's symptoms were recognized early before it got worse because thankfully she doesn't show the more severe symptoms. Hopefully you've learned something from this article!
* Name has been changed.
