Teenage Depression ~ Sometimes You Just Can't Smile & Where's Lenny Lee?

***I have two posts for today, so if you're here to celebrate a fantastic teen's birthday feel free to skip to the latter part of this post. If you're Lenny, QUICK! Scroll to the bottom.

List of Participants

I'm please to be part of this ingenious blogfest hosted by Stephen Tremp, Michael Di Gesu, Diane Wolfe, and Alex Cavanaugh. 

It's meant to bring awareness of disease prevention and early detection regarding medical conditions that may be averted or treated if caught in the early stages. Our desire is to motivate people to go in for early screening, and if a condition is caught early and treated, then our world just became a little better place to live. 

Here's my contribution.

Most everyone knows or has heard the name Robin Williams. He's been in countless films and comedy shows, igniting smiles and lightening hearts in millions over his professional career. He started making me laugh when I was in elementary school, while watching him during his stint as Mork for Ork on the television show Mork & Mindy. His sudden passing stunned many. But the hand he had in his own death was the real shocker. Bewilderment and sadness that a man with the capacity to give such joy to others yet somehow could not feel it himself spread rapidly. It also placed a spotlight on the mental disorder of Depression, how well some people can wear a fake outer skin, and how it affects loved ones of the sufferer.  
All of us can have a sense of being depressed ~ sadness, gloom, dejection. We all have crappy days. Our bodies are chemically engineered with sparks of electricity firing at all angles throughout every day. We are emotional beings, which plays a part in our genetic make up. Events and circumstances can flair our emotions and affect our chemistry. It happens to all of us. But it eventually wears off, after we've had time to reflect or maybe spend time with a friend. Clinical Depression is an entirely different animal. Sufferers can not just make themselves happy or change their outlook. It can be an emotional up and down daily battle. Tell her to just smile, as I've been told, will not work for them.    By collective definition, Clinical Depression: a depression so severe as to be considered abnormal, either because of no obvious environmental causes, or because there action to unfortunate life circumstances is more intense or prolonged than would generally be expected. 

NOTE: I by no means am a physician or councilor, or an expert on depression. However, I've had personal experience dealing with the disorder, suffering from Post-Partem after my third baby (take that Tom Cruise) and taking care of a clinically diagnosed family member for years.

Saying that, my focus here is on our youth, particularly teenagers. I write for children and love seeing the world through their eyes. But their world is not always rose petals and lollipops. Many kids have real life issue to handle. My current young adult project ~ a teenage girl who cares for a severely depressed parent, what she has to sacrifice, what that does to her, and how she deals with it all ~ has lent me lots of research into depression and teenage depression. 
The teenage years are by far the most volatile emotionally. Everything is a tragedy, a calamity. In their minds, no one understand what they're going through. We all remember feeling like that at some teenage point.
These years are the inner battle of adolescent Meism slowly losing ground to the revelation that the world does not revolve around them. Of course, there are loads of variables attached here. Everyone is an individual, different situations, circumstances, environments, etc... Each handles those uniquely. 
Feeling down or 'bad' is real to any of us, but especially during the middle grade and high school years of self discovery. Where do I belong? Who am I? Who do I want to become? In today's world, there's a lot of stress on these kids to answer those questions.  
Yes, there is a difference between feeling down and feeling as though one has been sucked into a black hole. But do not take any sense of depression lightly. You and I do not know the true workings of another's inner mind and heart. Pay attention. A life could be at stake.
Here are a few of the more common warning signs that might give you pause to a teenager suffering from a form of depression:

• Sleeping excessively
• Sudden disinterest in food or compulsive overeating leading to weight loss or gain
• Memory loss
• Unusual irritability
• Irrational and/or rebellious behavior - skipping classes, driving recklessly, forgetting regular obligations like babysitting or work 
• A sense of hopelessness
• Outwardly feeling sorry for self
• School work suffering; drop of letter grades
• Apathetic attitude toward what was normally important to them: grades, athletics, music, etc...
• Begin dabbling in alcohol and/or drugs
• Isolate self
• Disinterest in friends
• Talk of death/dying
• Headaches, fatigue, other aches and pains.
• Overdoing actions or obnoxious in public
• A heredity edge - (a symptom you might not be aware of: family history of depression)

Here are sites, organizations, articles, and books with more information on teenage depression, how to help, and how to manage it. 

Help Guide

A Teenager's Guide to Depression

The Real Cost

Teen Treatment Center

Mayo Clinic

PsychCentral

A Few Signs Your Teenager Might Be Depressed

National Library of Medicine

Teens Health

Mountain Valley 

Beyond the Blues by Lisa M. Schab

When Nothing Matters Anymore by Bev Cobain

Signs of Depression in Teens by Michelle Ross

Anxiety Workbook for Teens by Lisa M. Schab

Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your life for Teens by Sheri Van Dijk

Mindfulness for Teen Anxiety by Christopher Willard

Depression: The Ultimate Teen Guide (It Happened To Me) by Tina P. Schwartz

Thank you for reading, and please take this post to heart. Depression can happen to anyone, even those least likely to fall victim. Don't be afraid to ask questions, be attentive. You're not nosy. You care. <3

original image credit

I first met Lenny Lee through the blogosphere, while reading a post written by the fabulous Candace G. Her admiration for this young eleven-year-old kid struck a cord inside my heart. I then followed Lenny's trail to my amazing writer pal Sharon Mayhew and discovered Lenny's courageous journey and battle with cancer.  Most of you will remember Lenny for his blog Lenny's World and from his imfamous sunshine logo. 

Dear Lenny,
You are one of my heroes. Your resilience amazes me. The way you see the world through hope-filled eyes and recognize the glass as half-full comforts me. There really is a better tomorrow. Thank you for being a light in my life and in the lives of your blogging buddies. 

We HEART U! Happy 15th Birthday!!!