Northwest+Expert+Advice


 * // Mr. Mabis, School Psychologist at Northwest High School, Mr. Dunn, Assistant Principal at Northwest High School, and Ms. Andrew, Counselor A-F at Northwest High School on Teen Depression //**

//Mabis //: I think if someone is depressed, and it’s a true depression, I think that we throw that term around far too often, as depression is much more than a bad mood, or a reaction to a specific circumstance or occurrence. Students who are depressed often say that they are generally unhappy all the time, or nearly all the time. With children and adolescents only, one of the characteristics of depression can be that the person is angry much of the time. And typically you can see evidence of depression in someone who loses interest in activities they used to enjoy and used to make them happy. That’s why someone who is truly depressed of ten feels that they don’t have a reason to get up in the morning, as they don’t really look forward to any event or activity which will occur that day.
 * // What are commonly seen signs that you see in a depressed student? //**

//Dunn//: I think the biggest sign is seeing students who are withdrawn, students who sit alone in the cafeteria, or in the back corner of class, walking through the halls, aren’t really socializing with anybody. And even more than that, students who, for example, and not in all cases, but the guys may have longer hair that they wear in down in front of their eyes, and things in that nature. But mainly, just students that avoid being social with other students and remove themselves from such situations.

//Andrew//: Being withdrawn, getting out of activities that they normally would be involved in and enjoy, sometimes self harm, such as cutting, generally down and not in a good mood, not happy about things that would normally excite them

//Mabis//: Listen to them, but not take on the role of a therapist, which is a lot of pressure and responsibility. If you listen to a friend and they lean on you all the time that can wear you down. I’ve been able to speak to Health classes the last two years, and I tell students that if they have these types of feelings characteristic of depression they need to talk to someone, hopefully an adult they can trust, ideally a parent, or, if you don’t have that kind of relationship with a parent, a grandparent. For those students who practice a religion a very good person to speak to is their minister, priest, or rabbi. They can seek out a trusted teacher, or counselor. If you truly have a depression, you’re going to need someone talk to so you can get some help and some treatment, and not try to go it alone.
 * // What is something that someone with a depressed friend can do to help? //**

//Dunn//: The best thing they could do is seek adult help. Go to an adult such as a teacher, counselor or administrator and find out what their options and resources are. Nine times out of ten, they will be directed to our counseling department, which has a whole slew of resources that they could go to in order to get help. The counselor will obviously get in contact with the parents of the student and try to get them involved. But the one thing that a true friend can do is go to an adult and let them know what the situation and what’s going on with their friend, and that adult will direct them to the right person.

//Andrew//: Talk the them, first of all, see how they are feeling, see if there is anything they can do to help, be a good friend, be someone there to lean on, but also, if their just not making any progress, they should step in and get them adult help.

//Mabis//: Yes, I think so. I talked with a student this year, but not as much as I’d have like to have, because the student missed so much school. But I’d say in some cases, particularly when you get into a lot of absenteeism, and a refusal, or inability, to complete work and a lack of motivation to succeed academically, yes I could definitely see a correlation. I’ve not often thought of drawing that direct correlation but, yes, I’m sure it frequently occurs.
 * // In your position, do you see any correlation between discipline issues and teen depression? //**

//Dunn//: Honestly, I don’t think I do. I think the biggest correlation I see is between teen depression and academic issues. A lot of times we find depressed teens aren’t doing their schoolwork, they aren’t motivated, and they are often failing multiple classes. And then that gets compounded with the fact that they feel like a failure, which make them feel even worse. A lot of our kids that have discipline issues, I think, are very social and have plenty of friends, but they might not have a group of friends that are the best influence on them, but they have some group of friends that they hang out with. Where as I think that withdrawn people are going to be the ones that are going to be failing multiple classes and falling behind.

//Andrew//: I don’t deal too much with discipline issues, so that’s something I have not seen, however I’m sure there can be a correlation there. Someone who’s depressed may be more likely to act out or lash out at teachers and/or peers because of their mood.

//Mabis//: Again, that’s something I’ve haven’t thought about frequently, but yes, I would assume so, because if a teenager is truly depressed their job, which they might be currently failing at fulfilling , is being a student, and, as we talked about earlier, if you get to a point where you have a lack of interest in anything or a lack of caring, that often goes along with a lack of hope for the future. Sure, that would correlate between failing in school and not graduating. These are often the kids who unfortunately could be good students and then, for whatever reasons led to their depression, they lose interest in school, among other things, and fail to graduate. As we know failing to graduate high school makes it much harder to be successful as an adult.
 * // Is there a correlation you see between graduation rates and success in adult life and depression as a teen? //**

//Dunn//: Yeah, I think there is. Obviously, like everything else, it’s a case by case basis, but I would say usually really depressed teens, for the most part tend not to do well and get into trouble academically. They might get held back; become credit deficient because they’re struggling with their depression and not getting the help they need, that would tie into all aspects of their lives, which includes academic schoolwork. Then they start to fail and fall behind. Which then may cause tensions in their home life, which leads to them feel like a failure and become even more depressed and so on and so forth.

//Andrew//: I don’t know that I’ve seen that, since I don’t see the kids too much after they graduate, so I don’t know if I can speak to that.

//Mabis//: Just speak to someone, preferably an adult, to acknowledge that you won’t get over this alone, to get help, to not think that there is anything wrong with them that // they // are responsible for, and to rely on adults and people such as teachers, counselors, and school psychologists such as myself. Female students often seem more willing to talk with others and share their feelings. It is true that depression is more frequently diagnosed in women than men. Now is this because it’s actually more prevalent in women, or are they just more likely to admit they need help? Whereas guys often keep their feelings in and don’t share them and seek outside help, I think it’s a good thing that women are more likely to go out and seek help. Often, I think, women, especially young women, feel a lot of pressure from society. I think too often the media and society make you think that you need to dress and look a certain way to be attractive to men, which in turn can leads to other problems, often affecting self-concept. All students though, male and female, need to realize that adolescence can be a tough time and that they don’t need to go it alone, and that there are people who care very much about them and who are willing to lend them a hand if they need it.
 * // What advice would you give a depressed student? //**

//Dunn//: I would definitely have them get the resources from the counselors office and sit down and talk to somebody; maybe a therapist, a counselor, or somebody who’s trained to deal with depression. Depressed students need someone to talk to, so I think that’s the best thing they can do is find a trustworthy adult, who’s licensed, who knows what they are doing and who can help them out with their issues. But its something you definitely can’t get through alone, you have to get through it with somebody.

//Andrew//: Don’t be afraid to talk about it with someone they trust, and not to be embarrassed to reach out for help.


 * // For more information on depression, speak with your counselor, an administrator, or any trusted adult. //**