What is depression and anxiety?
Mental health includes our emotions and psychological wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act. In the same way we have our physical health, we have our mental health too.
Mental health conditions are very common, around 1 in 10 young people have a mental health condition, most commonly depression and/or anxiety. Many mental health conditions first appear during adolescence.
Depression
Depression is feeling constantly unhappy and hopeless which can last for weeks or months at a time.
You might feel
- Upset or tearful
- Restless, agitated, or irritable
- Guilty or worthless
- Empty or numb
- Isolated, and unable to relate to others
- Finding no pleasure in things you used to enjoy
- Low self-confidence or self-esteem
- Hopeless
- Suicidal
You might be
- Avoiding social events or activities you used to enjoy
- Self-harm
- Difficulty in thinking clearly or making decision
- Difficulty in remembering things or concentrating
- Difficulty with falling asleep, staying asleep or sleeping too much
- Feeling tired all the time
- Losing appetite or eating more than usual
- Physical aches and pains that have no obvious physical causes
Anxiety
Anxiety can be experienced in many ways, but can include constant and uncontrollable worries, fears, or having waves of panic
(often called panic attacks).
You might feel
- Feeling lightheaded or dizzy
- Have a churning feeling in your stomach
- Feeling restless and unable to sit still
- Headaches or other aches and pains
- Pounding heartbeat
- Faster breathing
- Sweating or hot flushes
- Difficulty with falling asleep or staying asleep (insomnia)
- Nausea (feeling sick) or vomiting (being sick)
- Grinding your teeth (especially at night time)
- Having panic attacks
- Have a sense of dread, or fearing the worse
- Worrying that other people are angry or upset with you
- Rumination – thinking a lot about bad experiences or thinking over situations again and again.
You might behave
- Avoidance of social situations or situations that might cause you anxiety, or from trying new things
- Restless and unable to relax
- You might seek out reassurance from other people that they are not angry or upset with you.