Depression

Children and teenagers can also become depressed. It is important that parents are aware of this and look out for any signs that their child is becoming depressed. This will include the child becoming quiet and withdrawn or irritable. If you suspect that your child is becoming depressed you should seek help for them as soon as possible. Effective treatments are available, just as they are for adults. However, treatments need to be carefully tailored and will usually involve the whole family.

If you are a teenager who is seriously ill, or know someone who is ill, you may find yourself feeling angry and resentful. It can be very difficult to cope with an illness at a stage when your life is opening up and you want to do more things for yourself and by yourself. If you have been diagnosed yourself, you may find that you will have to become more dependent on your parents again and this can be difficult. It may have come as a shock to have to think about your health when you may not be used to feeling ill.

You can find yourself tearful, depressed and unsure about how to cope with all the changing emotions you are experiencing. You may feel resentful that life is going on as normal for other people when you have so much to cope with.

You may find you are asking yourself a lot of difficult questions about the illness and how it’s affecting you. Feelings and experiences like these are all very natural and understandable, but it can be difficult to cope with such strong feelings on your own.

It’s sometimes difficult to talk about things like this, even with the people you are close to. If you’re finding it hard to talk, you may find it helps to discuss your feelings with a trained counsellor.

If you are ill, you could try contacting a support group for young people who have the same illness. This will give you a chance to talk to others who are in a similar situation and facing the same challenges.