Most people can feel low from time to time - feeling depressed occasionally is normal. However if these feelings mess up your everyday life then they are more of a problem.

What causes depression?

Sometimes people don't know what is making them feel so unhappy. It could be..

• Not feeling loved or listened to, or being left out
• Losing pets or important things you own
• Changing school, moving house
• Falling out with friends
• Parents arguing
• Having a long illness
• Having to do well at school
• Being abused
• Worrying about being different
• Worries about having a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Signs of depression.

• Giving up things you are interested in, and not finding new ones
• Finding it hard to concentrate at school
• Letting school work go down hill
• Losing touch with friends and not wanting to join in
• Not looking after yourself
• Being very hard on yourself
• Not eating enough, or eating too much
• Not sleeping much, or sleeping a lot
• Messing about or getting into trouble as a way not to feel so bad
  

If you have some or all of these signs and they won’t go away, it may mean that you are depressed.

Did You Know...

In the UK about four in one hundred 5 -15 year olds suffer from serious depression. That's 480,000 people.

What can help?

Talking to someone you can trust
Keeping active as much as possible
Remember you are not alone – depression is a common problem and can be overcome

Further help and information

Three Towns Healthy Living - 01294 466901
Childline - 0800 1111 (free and confidential service for children)
The Samaritans - 08457 90 90 90 (24 hour service offering confidential support to anyone who is in crisis)
NHS 24 - 0845 4 24 24 24 (24hr nurse consultation and health information)

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What is Depression

Depression is very common. Sometimes we know that there is a cause for our depression – at other times there doesn’t seem to be one single cause, just general feelings of unhappiness, which don’t go away.

People can get a variety of symptoms when feeling depressed.

• Having no interest in life.
• Finding it difficult to concentrate and make even easy decisions.
• Having no feelings of enjoyment in life.
• Not wanting to go out or mix, spending a lot of time on your own.
• Feeling very tired and having no energy.
• Finding it difficult to sleep and waking up frequently during the night.
• Loss of appetite, or comfort eating.
• Loss of self-confidence and feeling worthless.
• Being very irritable, anxious, impatient.
• Feeling very negative about life.
• Having suicidal thoughts.

What can I do to help myself?

• Try to keep busy – keep your mind occupied.
• Try to get out of, and go to bed at regular times.
• Try to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
• Eat sensibly.
• Find someone to talk to - don’t bottle things up.
• Ask for help, don’t be afraid, it is a common problem.

Three Towns Healthy Living runs a Stress Management Initiative, and would be happy to assess your stress levels. We could make suggestions that would help you deal with any stress relating to your depression.

Further help and information

Three Towns Healthy Living - 01294 466901
The Samaritans - 0845 7 90 90 90
Copeline - 0800 056 8181
NHS 24 - 0845 4 24 24 24 (24hr nurse consultation and health information)

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Are you depressed?

Everyone is sad sometimes, but in later life there can be more reasons for becoming depressed such as retirement, less income, perhaps the onset of illnesses like arthritis and more frequent personal losses such as the death of loved ones and friends.

One in six elderly people feel depressed, and one in thirty elderly people are diagnosed by a doctor as having a depressive illness.

Feeling low or sad is not the only sign of depressive illness. It’s important to know what to look out for. Here are some of the most common symptoms:

• A feeling of sadness or being ‘down’ which is worse than normal sadness
• A loss of interest in life – you just can’t enjoy the things you usually do
• A sense of tiredness – you just don’t feel like doing anything
• A loss of appetite and often a loss of weight too
• A feeling of restlessness, making it hard to rest or relax properly
• A feeling of wanting to avoid other people
• Waking earlier in the morning and being unable to get back to sleep again
• Losing confidence in yourself – you may feel useless or a burden to others

Older people complain less of being depressed and tend to get the symptoms confused with a physical illness. Also, older people tend not to bother their doctors with anything other than physical symptoms. You can’t afford to confuse depression with physical illness.

What you can do about it.

If you feel you may be depressed, it is very important that you get help as quickly as possible. Do not bottle it up, you must ask for help. It can be difficult to recover from depression without medical help.

Further help and information

Three Towns Healthy Living – 01294 466901
NHS 24 – 0845 4 24 24 24 (24 hr nurse consultation & health information)
The Samaritans – 0845 7 90 90 90
Cruse Bereavement Care – 0870 167 1677
Copeline – 0800 056 8181
Counselling Ayrshire – 01292 671032

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