Depression and Low Mood

 

What is Depression?

People often say that they feel ‘depressed’ when they are upset or sad, but true depression is when your low mood prevents you from doing and enjoying the things you used to enjoy for a longer period of time. In young people, depression may not be the same as in adults and might show itself as tiredness, disrupted sleep, or lack of motivation, and often also makes you feel anxious and overwhelmed.
If you’re a parent worried about your child, we’ve listed the best accurate information sites, and suggestions for resources to help you support your child here.
Other useful pages might include counselling, anxiety or helplines

 

For parents: start here

Realising your child is unhappy is upsetting and may feel overwhelming. Sometimes it’s not easy to know what might be considered typical mood swings while growing up. Of course, most of us feel sad sometimes. Depression is when such feelings last a long time and get in the way of everyday life.

Low mood may be triggered because of circumstances (such as bullying, bereavement, or abuse) but it can also develop for no obvious reason. Some young people turn to drugs or alcohol to help with their feelings, others may slip into self-harm or disordered eating. We’ve pulled together some of the most useful resources on depression and low mood here and in other sections. Some will be better for younger teens, and some for young adults.

How can you tell the difference between teenage mood swings and depression?

How can you tell the difference between teenage mood swings and more worrying stress and low mood?

More resources for parents and caregivers

What treatments are there and how can parents help?

Young people are not often prescribed any medication under the age of 18 years, but there are ways to tackle depression without medication. The most common helpful treatment for low mood is counselling, and helping them find what works for them when they feel down.

It’s also easy to forget how important sleep, good food, exercise, nature, and company are for our mental health. When we feel sad or anxious, those things often fall by the wayside (see below for a video on this). Depending on their age, young people might also like to try mindfulness, journalling, creative projects, or getting more active and outdoors—all shown to be mood boosters.
See our happiness hacks page for ideas

Admission to an inpatient unit would be unusual, but if you are facing this possibility see the links below.
Many people who feel low or sad, also feel anxious and vice-versa, so there may be more useful links under Anxiety.

Mental health professionals advise that the most important thing you can do is just be there as much as you can for your child and keep telling them they are loved. You may not be able to ‘fix’ it for them even though you want to, but you can support them to get better and help them feel hopeful for the future. Read some of the stories and blogs below about other families who have been through severe clinical depression and how they coped.

The Childline video at the bottom of this page explains how depression might feel in understandable terms and how looking at the Childline website can be helpful. (Reminder- Childline is for young people up to age 19 years)

Books for parents and young adults recommended by families

For young people

How do I know if I have depression and what can I do about it?

Books for young people about coping with low mood

Apps to help with mood or to chat with others about how you feel

 

  • Moodtools A free App for managing depression with a mood tracker, videos, meditations and more. A sister App to the popular FearTools for anxiety.
  • Headspace for meditation
  • Tellmi App is an award-winning app where you can chat with other people about what you’re going through. It’s fully moderated; posts are checked quickly so that everyone feels safe. Ages 11-25 years.

Podcasts about managing low mood and the science of happiness

Finding help: counselling or online chat and support

Videos on depression and low mood

> Secondary+ 

> Primary page

> Pre-school Page