Mental Health

Hi all, 

Below is a short video on depression. As we end term 2 and begin term 3, I want to look ahead at mental illnesses as part of our career and health education unit. 

What is depression?

It’s normal for kids to feel sad, down, or irritated, or to be in bad moods from time to time. But when negative feelings and thoughts linger for a long time and limit a child’s ability to function normally, it might be depression.

Depression is a type of mood disorder. The main sign is when kids are sad, discouraged, or irritable for weeks, months, or even longer. Another sign a kid might have depression is negative thinking. This includes focusing on problems and faults, being mostly critical and self-critical, and complaining a lot.

Depression can interfere with energy, concentration, sleep, and appetite. Kids with depression may lose interest in activities and schoolwork, seem tired, give up easily, or withdraw from friends or family.

When kids have depression, it’s hard for them to make an effort, even when doing things they used to enjoy. Depression can make kids feel worthless, rejected, or unlovable. It can make everyday problems seem more difficult than they actually are. When depression is severe, it can lead kids to think about self-harm or suicide

Recognizing Depression

It can be hard for parents and other adults to know when a child is depressed. An irritable or angry mood might seem like a bad attitude or disrespect. Low energy and lack of interest might look like not trying. Parents (and kids and teens themselves) may not realize that these can be signs of depression.

Because depression can show up in different ways and might be hard to see, it helps to let a doctor know if feelings of sadness or bad moods seem to go on for a few weeks..

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you know anyone who has had depression? This could be a family member or someone famous. 
  2. How has this affected their lives?
  3. How can we fix this? 
  4. Watch a video of my favourite hockey player Rick Rypien. He played for the Vancouver Canucks and he suffered from this mental illness. He ultimately committed suicide and now he leaves behind a legacy. 

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12 Responses to Mental Health

  1. ADEN VU says:

    1) yes, i do know Chris evans suffers from depression
    2) it hasn’t he just calms down and gets through the day.
    3) we can’t fix it that easily but to try to stop it starts with the person first.
    4) the second one RIP

  2. Angela says:

    1 I know a few people who suffer from depression. Two of them are some of my friends.

    2. One has mostly kept silent about it but just seems more upset about everything, and the other one feels pretty much alone.

    3. I don’t really know, but maybe check up on them, and talk to them if they need it?

  3. Kamsi-_____- says:

    Watching this video, I learned that depression can be caused by a lot of pressure. Depression is a dangerous thing, it can change the person (and not in a good way.)

    1. Famous people like Eminem, Ellen DeGeneres and Johnny Depp have suffered depression.

    2.I know Johnny Depp had leaned on with both legal and illegal drugs and alcohol which made a small slide with his career but I’ve heard he is starting to get help (from rehab, counselling and things like that). However, Eminem and Ellen wasn’t as severe as Johnny Depp they took a “break” (aka small vacation)

    3.I don’t think we can fix depression, its like saying fixing hunger and homelessness, you CAN’T fix problems like this you can only decrease. PERIOD! However, some ways we can decrease depression is seeking counselling, taking prescribed medication and one’s depression is really too much to handle things like rehab and group counselling could help. When you are with other people, you be their friend which can make someone happy.

    4.I watched the video about the hockey player, it is sad that this great life had come to an end too soon. #R.I.P Rick Rypien.

    This blog post was really educational and I hope we all can learn form it!

  4. vinh says:

    In this post i think her got a bully because she go to school she need mom driver but see dont driver she say her walk to school 5 miles, she late and she try to tell she walk to school but she dont care, a bad guy give her homework but she not doing it so that guys mad, she need help in work but teacheer not teach her and say somethings. that all thank you

  5. Mahek:) says:

    Wow that’s actually sad in both story’s theirs depression and anxiety and they both set their selfs free. I May not understand what depression is but I do understand how it feels to get bullied. In primary I use to get called name’s awfully alot and people used to pass me rude comments but then, in gr 5 I met
    Cheryl and Angela we became really good friends then I realized that I wasn’t alone people cared for me and they still do they changed my life forever. My personality changed, my way of thinking changed, and they just told me to ignore and think of something else while people are blabbering all sorts of stuff at your face and it actually works! l regret not meeting them sooner.

    1. Anyways Kristen Bell, Johnny Depp, Jim Carrey, Joseph Gorden-Levitt, Matthew Perry, Emma Thompson, Kerry Washington, Britney Spears, Ryan Philippe, Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Lovato Angelina Jolie-Pitt, Anne Hathaway, and Ellen Degeneres, yes the Ellen Degeneres have all gone through depression and there’s still more.

    Ellen’s story is…

    In 1998, shortly after she revealed that she was a lesbian, Ellen Degeneres’s popular sitcom was axed. “Everything that I ever feared happened to me,” Degeneres later recalled. “I lost my show. I’ve been attacked like hell. I went from making a lot of money on a sitcom to making no money. When I walked out of the studio after five years of working so hard, knowing I had been treated so disrespectfully for no other reason than I was gay, I just went into this deep, deep depression.” But the comedienne persevered, continuing in the industry, and ultimately finding acceptance and happiness with an Emmy-winning talk show and an unforgettable turn as a fish with amnesia in Pixar’s Finding Nemo franchise.

    And here’s Anne Hathaway’s story…

    Anne Hathaway’s success has hardly slowed down since age 19, when she first found fame in Disney’s The Princess Diaries. But in a 2007 interview with Tatler magazine, Hathaway revealed that in the years before her big break, she suffered from depression and anxiety. During that time, Hathaway insists she was able to work through her anguish without assistance from medication. Thinking back to her troubled younger self, Hathaway has said, “I am sorry she was hurting for so long. It’s all so negatively narcissistic to be so consumed with self.

    Also here’s Britney Spears story

    A famous internet meme shows Britney Spears circa 1997, complete with shaved head and a crazed look upon her face, swinging an umbrella towards the window of a car. The meme is used to allude to one’s own stress: “If Britney Spears can survive 1997, I can survive [insert stressful event].” Humorous as the picture of a crazed Britney may be, the photo is just one image of a rough time for the pop star. Dealing with both a public divorce and postpartum depression, Spears sunk into what she called her natural state: severe depression, frayed nerves, and debilitating social anxiety. The pop star checked into rehab that same year, and began taking Prozac regularly for the first time since it had been first been prescribed to her at age 18. Spears credits her two sons, a handful of loyal friends, and her Vegas residency for the improvement in her mental health.

    And you probably know who Vincent Van Gogh is right. Well he died when he was 37 because of depression and here’s his story…

    The founder of impressionism style in art, Vincent will go down as one of the best and painters in our history. It is a known fact that he battled depression, which can be easily seen in his pictures. Even though he often pictures nature, like his paintings “Sunflowers for Amy”, “irises”, “Wheat field with cypresses”, it was his portrait and dark paintings that show his depression. Aside from depression, Van Gogh also suffered from several disorders, including bipolar disorder, acute porphyria, schizophrenia, and epilepsy.
    In 1890 he put an end to his misery with a gunshot.

    2.How can this affect your life? Well you could get heart disease and
    cancer.

    3. I’m not really sure how you can get ( rid ) of depression but you have to Exercise, Eat Healthy, Get Enough Sleep, and try to have FUN!

    (*~*)

  6. Victor says:

    1. I think Eminem has depression or use to have depression, also I know Michael Phelps had depression.

    2. I don’t think it affected their lives that much, but Micheal Phelps said that “Going public with your feelings will feel better.”

    3. Have more facilities to help stop depression like websites, learning lessons, and online guidance facilities.

  7. cheryl says:

    I have an older cousin who doesn’t live in Canada, and her family is really poor so she has to work hard from 4am to 6pm. She
    also has lots of homework and stuff piled on top of that, and she also feels like her family is neglecting her. I’m pretty sure that they’re just too busy to talk about her problems with her, but I get how depressed she feels. Luckily, she’s pretty close with my mom so they’re able to discuss life even though she practically lives on the other side of the world. Now she has a job and she’s not sad anymore. i think she just needed someone to be there for her.

  8. Rohan:) says:

    1.I don’t really know anyone who has depression or know anyone in my family who has depression .
    2. Some ways depression can affect your life includes:you will constantly feel annoyed annoyed or irritated without reason or think of really depressing thoughts.
    3. Some ways we can help stop depression is to get them emotional support guides and try to be really kind to them.

  9. MADDIE._. says:

    1. I do know someone who has depression but I don’t know them personally. one of my very best friends has an aunt who has depression. my friend has told me about it but I have never met her aunt. like Jhonny Depp and elen degeneres.
    2. depression majorly affects peoples lives every day. for example, my best friends aunt had depression and she completely shut herself out form the world and didn’t talk to anyone. I think that people deal with depression differently. some people shut themselves out while others turn to alcohol or drugs.
    3. I don’t really know how to stop this problem but maybe we could start by opening up new facilities and websites to help people deal with depression safely and get better. just enjoy your life and try to stay happy and healthy.

  10. zoyamoyaloya says:

    Do you know anyone who has had depression? This could be a family member or someone famous.
    How has this affected their lives?
    How can we fix this?
    Watch a video of my favourite hockey player Rick Rypien. He played for the Vancouver Canucks and he suffered from this mental illness. He ultimately committed suicide and now he leaves behind a legacy.

    1) i don’t know of anyone in my family that has had depression
    2) i think depression would change someones perspective on life
    3)i think if i ever fall into depression, music would help me but i think everyone is different
    4) that’s sad

  11. Zoe uwu says:

    1. I know a few people has suffered with depression. But the ace family is
    2. I`m not going to answering why or anything! because of personal reasons!
    3. I can`t really stop anyone from feeling that way but the only thing I can do is stay by someone side and help them get through the tough times and just keep their mind off things and just basically just be there for them. And Keep an eye on them and I would never leave their side, Because they really need someone`s help and that`s why we all should stay by the person you love.

  12. Lauren 😊 says:

    1. I do not know anyone or anyone famous who have suffered from depression.

    2. I think that depression can change his or her perspective in life with the people around them. They can be a totally different person as they suffer depression.

    3. How we can help fix depression is by being positive or doing something that makes you happy and clears the sad thoughts away.

    4. I watched the video on Rick Rypien and I feel so sad that he had committed suicide when he had such a great career to play Vancouver Canucks. I wonder how his family felt when this happened. In the first video, I think that Kevin Bieksa felt sad too since they were such good friends.

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