Topics
Anxiety and Depression
by The Support Team
Everyday activities (like school, family, friends, money, work, health, spirituality, hobbies) can cause a great deal of uncomfortable feelings when they are not going as easily or the way you would like them to. Some examples of times where you may experience feelings of anger, sadness, despair, loss of interest, guilt, lack of energy, etc, include: a break-up (with friends, family, significant other), exams, grades, fighting (with friends, family, teachers, coaches), work (job interviews, staff cuts, heavy workloads), a loss (family, friend, pet), and many other situations.
Depression
Depression is an uncomfortable feeling that may leave you feeling empty, alone, angry, and even defeated. Everyone feels depressed from time to time. Approximately 121 million people worldwide and more than a quarter million youth between the ages 15-24 experience periods of depression. Feeling this way is not uncommon and tends to pass over a short period of time. However, when feelings of depression last for several weeks and begin to interfere with everyday life, depression can feel like it’s taking over your life.
Depression can change the way you may think and behave. It can also change how your body functions. How do you know if you or someone you know may be experiencing the effects of depression? Well, some things that you may notice in yourself or a friend are:
• Fatigue and loss of energy
• Changes in sleeping patterns
• Appetite increases and decreases, resulting in weight gain or loss
• Feeling worthless or guilty
• Reduced enjoyment in previously enjoyed activities
• Feeling physically agitated, or like you’re in slow motion
• Unable to concentrate and make decisions
• Suicidal thoughts
Many of these changes are sometimes triggered by stresses related to things such as school, family, finances, work, and relationships. Other things that may be contributing to the feeling of depression may be one’s personal outlook on life. These may be things such as perfectionism, low self-esteem, and difficulties expressing negative feelings. We learn how to think, act and express ourselves through our environments – sometimes the people we’ve been around or the experiences we’ve had to endure make it harder for us to fight feelings of depression.
What Can You Do?
When someone is depressed they often feel alone and unheard. They feel like they have no one to talk to that will just be there for support – to listen unconditionally without judgment. If you are feeling depressed it may be helpful to find someone you may be able to talk with who will be able to listen to how you are feeling. Sometimes it is hard to find someone who is willing to listen without seeming judgmental, or focusing the conversation on something else instead. It is important to find the support you need to be able to release what you have been feeling. Contacting the Support Team at Youthspace may be one way of talking about your feelings and your experiences. If you are supporting a friend through depression, it is crucial to be there to listen to their experience. At the same time, be gentle with yourself and get your own support – it can be worrisome to support a good friend through a tough time.
Depression sometimes leads to suicidal thoughts if it goes on and on without any support. For information on suicide, check out the Suicide page in Featured Topics.
Anxiety
We all experience bits of anxiety now and then, and this can be our body’s helpful way of letting us know that something is ‘not quite right’. Sometimes little bits of anxiety grow to the point where it makes everyday life extremely difficult to navigate. It can feel like being stuck in a constant state of fear of regular daily activities. Approximately every 1 in ten people struggle and suffer from experiences of anxiety. Sometimes anxiety makes us anticipate the worst scenario in every situation. Some of these worries may be a sense of doom, specific fear of a place, thing, or activity, public areas, recurrent thoughts of images, worries of germs, and/or persistent thoughts that certain things (objects, experiences) are ‘out of place’.
There are many different physical things that may happen to someone experiencing anxiety. The physical symptoms may be very scary and can cause even more anxiety. At its scariest, anxiety sometimes feels as though you might physically and emotionally die. Other times there may be experiences of nausea, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, muscle tension, headaches, and trembling fatigue.
What Can You Do?
Struggling with anxiety can be a very scary experience. If you are feeling some anxiety, it can be helpful to talk to someone who can listen to how you are experiencing things without judgment. A good place to start for support is the people in your life, such as family, friends, coworkers, teachers, or coaches. If finding support from these kinds of people in your life is not an option, Youthspace may be a good place to find support and someone who will listen without judging you or the experience you may be feeling.
If you know someone who is experiencing a lot of anxiety, it is important to be there for them and to listen to their experience. It may not make sense to you and your experience of the world, but this is how they feel, and it is important to validate this.
Local Resources
BC Ministry of Children and Family Development – Child and Youth Mental Health
250-356-1123
Greater Victoria Child and Family Counselling Association
www.cafca.ca
Pacific Centre Family Services Association
www.pacificcentrefamilyservices.org
The F.O.R.C.E Society for Kid’s Mental Health
www.bckidsmentalhealth.org
YMCA-YWCA of Greater Victoria – Youth Outreach
www.victoriay.com/youth_outreach.php
Additional Resources
Beyond Blue
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx
Mind Your Mind
http://mindyourmind.ca/index.html