CHILDLINE ADVICE Talking helps when feeling low

These are the words of a 14-year-old boy, who contacted Childline.

It’s normal to feel down sometimes. But when you’re depressed you feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days.

Depression is actually an illness that can have a big effect on someone’s life.

There are many things that can cause someone to feel depressed.

These include bullying, sexual and physical abuse, death of a friend or family member, drug problems, exam stress and worries about sexuality.

Sometimes there’s no obvious reason for feeling depressed, and depression affects people in different ways.

It can make it hard to concentrate and lead to negative thoughts, and it can also make you think you’ll never feel OK again.

Feeling depressed can be really hard to deal with and some people start to selfharm by hurting themselves, taking drugs, drinking a lot of alcohol or deliberately putting themselves in risky situations.

It’s really important to get help if you’re doing this.

Some people who experience really serious depression might feel so bad about themselves and their life that they think the only way out is to kill themselves.

If sad thoughts are stopping you from enjoying life – or if you feel like life isn’t worth living – then it can really help to talk to someone you trust, or you can contact Childline.

It may seem like the hardest thing to do, but talking to someone about how you feel can make you realise you’re not alone, and this can help you to start feeling differently.

Children and young people with any worries can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or www.childline.org. uk, while adults concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC’s free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000.

I hate being so depressed – it’s like I’m empty inside. I find it hard telling people how I’m feeling, so I’ve been pushing them away from me. I don’t know why I feel this way but it’s horrible. I constantly feel sad and lonely.”