Coping with Depression in Young People
A Guide for Parents
Chapter One
What is depression?
Depression is an emotion we are all familiar with. A bleakness
of thought, a feeling of irritation toward those closest
to us, a sense of emptiness, a question about what life is
for, an inability to feel joy or pleasure - most of us have
gone through times in our lives when we have had some or
all of these feelings. Mostly they occur when we are tired
or overburdened, when we have had a row with someone
close to us or when an important relationship is not going
smoothly. We usually can explain to ourselves why we feel
the way we do and can reassure ourselves that these
feelings will pass. This is depression, the feeling, part of
the vast range of normal emotion that makes us human
and that is as much a part of our ordinary experience as is
joy, anger, fear or happiness.
When we hear somebody described as being depressed,
we imagine that we have an idea of how they
are feeling, based on our own experiences. We expect
that their feelings of depression are a reaction to something
negative that is happening in their lives, and we
expect them to try to get over their depression - 'to ... read full excerpt from Coping with Depression in Young People: A Guide for Parents ebook
