.
I'm going to tell you once more, Amber, and then I'm coming in there.
You hear me? Coming.
Oh, Mary, hi.
Hi.
What's up?
Oh, I must have caught you at a bad time.
Look, I was just after some sugar and I'm baking a cake, but not to worry, I'll come back.
No, it's okay. Come on in. I've just made a pot of tea.
Oh, thanks. You sure it's no problem?
It's fine, really. Come on in.
I should really be at the beach, but I found this delicious recipe I want to try out and surprise Harry, you know.
Black, right?
Yeah, that's him. So where's Amber?
Still in bed, and it's nearly lunchtime.
Amber, I meant what I said. Get up now.
A bit tired, is she? Exam time?
She's 16. It's holiday time.
She should be running around with her friends, but it's a bit hard when she won't get out of bed.
Her father's given up. He thinks she's just lazy.
I don't know. Maybe it's glandular fever, but the blood tests are normal.
Well, maybe there's something wrong at school.
There's a lot wrong at school. If she doesn't watch her step, she's going to be out looking for a new one the way her marks are going.
I'm at my wits end. Her teachers can't understand it, and frankly, nor can I.
Leave me alone. It's always about you. No one understands anything. I wish I'd never been born.
See what I have to put up with.
Cut. Mark it.
End slate. What's up?
Amber isn't really depressed. She's an actor, and her role in this video is that of a depressed young girl.
But while her depression isn't real, for many young people who are going through it every day, the depression their suffering is very real.
Some of you will know me as Sophie from the TV series Home and Away, but my real name is Rebecca Omologna.
So this is what I sound like in real life when I'm being myself or taking a break from the action like at the moment.
As you can tell, I'm filming on location making this video for you.
So while the crew is setting up for the next scene, I've got a few minutes to fill you in on what this video is all about.
We've put together a bit of a story and a lot of information about a very real and very common problem that many of us suffer at different times in our lives.
This problem can happen as early as our teenage years and is known as depression.
Because depression is a subject you might not have heard much about before, and because it can be a bit complex,
replaying sections will help you work out any questions you may want to ask your school counselor or family doctor about.
In fact, pause the video now and get yourself a piece of paper and a pen so you can jot down any questions you may have.
Okay, got something to write on?
We've divided the video up into sections with chapter headings, just like in a book, so you can find them again easily with your video remote.
The different sections I'm going to cover are what is depression, what are the major symptoms of depression,
why do we get depressed, who can help and what treatments are there, and once you're ready for fun again, how do you stay that way.
Thanks Lisa.
A good idea would be to watch this program with your mum or dad and again with a close friend.
Depression is something that other people, especially family, should know about.
They're close to you and therefore they're going through this depression with you.
So it makes sense that the more they know about what's up with you, the better they'll understand.
And understanding is what you need right now.
We called this video What's Up? because if you're depressed, there's a lot that's up with you.
Depressive illness, as the experts call it, is when your mood is down all the time.
You feel sad and tearful, sometimes for no reason.
You feel low and you feel depressed, and you feel depressed all the time.
You feel depressed, and you feel depressed all the time.
You feel sad and tearful, sometimes for no reason. You feel low and tired, and you can't seem to shake it.
You go to bed feeling like this and wake up feeling the same way.
Down.
In short, it's not a lot of fun any way you look at it.
So it's really important to understand exactly what depression is and not confuse it with feeling a bit low.
If you are a bit low, chances are it won't last for very long.
In fact, you'll be feeling better again before you know it.
But when sad, low feelings hang around like a bad smell for weeks, even maybe for months, that's depression.
Because those feelings don't go away.
But stick around and mess up your life and what you want to do with your time.
If you are suffering from depression, big news, you're not alone.
It can happen to all teenagers no matter what their background, their family circumstances, or their schooling.
And it affects both boys and girls.
Severe depression affects one in 20 teenagers from the age of 12 and up.
Because you're a teenager, your parents may be overusing the phrase,
it's just another stage you're going through, as if you haven't heard that one a million times.
But unlike a real stage, you won't be able to just snap out of it, like they tell you to,
because depression doesn't work that way.
You'll need the help of your parents and your doctor to get you better.
You won't get better in a snap because it will take a bit of time.
Depression isn't your fault or your parents' fault.
You aren't a bad person and you're not weak or lacking in willpower.
Truth is, it's actually a medical condition, like glandular fever or appendicitis,
so don't feel silly or be embarrassed about getting help for it.
You wouldn't feel silly going to the doctor if you had glandular fever,
so don't sit around feeling silly because you're depressed.
Get the right help.
So if depression is a medical problem, then how do you get it?
Because I'm an actor and not a doctor, soon I'll be talking to Dr Chris Weaver
about the causes of depression.
Chris is a psychiatrist who specialises in helping teenagers with problems like depression.
He can tell us why depression happens and how it affects their health.
He can tell us why depression happens and how to treat it.
But before we meet him, I'll just give you a bit more general info.
Unlike a lot of diseases, you can't test for depression with blood tests or scans,
so that means that a doctor has to work out what's wrong with you
by asking you questions about how you feel and what's bothering you.
Although you might not feel like opening up to anyone, especially your doctor,
no one can help you if they don't know there's something wrong in the first place.
Doctors, therapists and counsellors are all people trained to listen very carefully
to people with problems like depression.
You can tell them anything because it's confidential.
So all you have to do is to describe as carefully as possible exactly what you're feeling.
To help you do this, you'll need to know what the major symptoms of depression are.
If you think you have five or more of the following symptoms, you may be depressed.
Feeling sad, tearful, down in the dumps.
Getting no enjoyment in activities once found enjoyable.
Change in appetite, having lost or put on a lot of weight.
Can't sleep or sleep too much and feel sleepy all day.
Feeling angry, grouchy and irritable a lot.
Schoolwork falling behind, refusing to go to school or wagging school.
Having no energy, feeling tired all the time.
Feeling empty, worthless, hopeless or guilty. You think you're bad.
Can't think, make decisions or focus on anything.
Withdrawn, can't talk to friends, parents or brothers and sisters.
Experimenting with drugs or alcohol.
Having suicidal thoughts, thinking everyone would be better off without you.
And finally, have attempted to harm yourself.
If your depressed feelings have made you want to harm yourself,
it's extremely important to tell your doctor, school counsellor or parents immediately.
Here with me now is Dr Chris Weaver, a psychiatrist who works with teenagers who are depressed.
Welcome Chris. So why do we get depressed?
It could be a specific event, such as family problems or divorce.
It can be the pressures that a teenager is under, such as doing well in exams,
bust up with friends, those sorts of teenage pressures.
But I have to say that a lot of depressions actually occur out of the blue,
probably related to the genes or family history in that particular person.
Let's take a quick look at some of the possible causes of depression.
We've broken them up into four main causes, which I'll tell you about quickly
and Chris will explain more fully in just a moment.
The main causes of depression include outside events,
which are uncontrolled events that happen in our lives.
Family history means one of our parents or other family members may suffer from depression
and we may have a tendency towards it.
Chemical imbalance is when messages in our brain can't flow the way they should
and we become depressed in our thinking and behaviour.
Chronic illness is when we're sick with a long-term illness like glandular fever
and become depressed because we've been ill for so long.
Can you tell us how a family history of depression can affect us?
Well, researchers have shown very clearly that if you have close family members
who have had a history of depression,
that your chances of having a depression any time in your life increase quite a lot.
Unfortunately, it can be just your genes which can cause the depression.
So tell us more how a chemical imbalance in our brain can cause depression.
Well, this is linked in with the genetics.
There are some forms of depression where the brain chemicals or neurotransmitters
are unbalanced or not working properly
and this can lead to a style of negative thinking or negative behaviours,
which are the characteristics of a depression.
But how can a long-term illness trigger depression?
Well, long-term illness like glandular fever or chronic fatigue syndrome
leads to long periods of you being unwell and inactive
and this can wear you out and lead to a depression
and some people even think that it has a direct effect on the neurotransmitters in the brain
causing that depression.
Well, there's certainly a lot to learn about depression
and now we know some of the things that can negatively affect us
and trigger depression, how do we treat the symptoms in order to get well again?
Chris, a lot of teenagers suffer in silence.
Who can they reach out to and how can they make people understand what they're going through?
They need to talk to their parents.
They need to talk to their parents,
a school counsellor or their local family doctor.
By talking to someone that listens to them
they're helping themselves and other people realise
they have a very real problem that can be helped.
And what type of treatments will a counsellor or doctor recommend?
Well it depends on the level of depression.
depression, your family doctor may treat you themselves by talking or with medicine or
they may refer you to a specialist counsellor or a psychologist or if the depression is
severe they may refer you to a psychiatrist like me. The sort of treatment that they use
is called cognitive behavioural treatment, CBT for short, and it means looking at the
way people think and behave and trying to change those for people to act more positively.
Can you take medication for depression like you can with other illnesses? Absolutely.
It's very important that people with a severe level of depression do take medication and
it's very important that that's not left too late in the piece. What about combining
treatments like counselling and medication? Well in fact counselling and medication work
very well together and in most cases you will use both, both the cognitive behavioural therapy
and medication together. The good news is you will get better. The depression you're
going through won't last forever and you'll be your old self again. You'll get your energy
back and you'll be able to relate to family and friends once more. So Chris, once we start
to get well and we're back to our old selves, how do we stay that way? You stay well by
remembering the techniques of the cognitive behavioural treatment in dealing with stress
and stressful situations. You need to look at the way that you react to stress and the
way you think about it and it's also important to stay on the medication until the doctor
tells you that it's time to come off the medication. Most teenagers will get very much better and
will be back to the way they were but it's important to realise that these things take
time, particularly with the combination of the cognitive behavioural treatment and medication.
It may take several weeks before you notice an improvement in the way that you're going.
Getting well will take a bit of time and it will take letting your family and most importantly
your doctor know how you're feeling so they can help you start the healing process. Think
of your doctor as your coach, working in partnership with you to get you well. Just a reminder,
if you want to watch any of the topics we've talked about in this program, use your video
remote to take you there. The chapter headings as you've just seen are very easy to locate.
Five minutes Rebecca. Thanks Amy. Well I've got to go and change my costume but stay tuned
for the last scene. Watch up, end scene, take one. Action. Oh thanks for this Justine, I've
got to be off, I've got lots to do. Any time Mary, thanks for dropping in. Oh by the way
how's Amber doing? Is she any better? She's a blur of activity, she's so busy making up
for all the time lost when she was depressed. Speak of the devil. Hi Mary, hi Mum. Hey
Amber, nice dress. Thanks. Mum can you please zip me up, I'm running late. Hurry up, Daniel's
going to be here any minute. It's done, off you go. See you later. See you. Discover boys
and girls. Like the guy out of style. Make sure you make my six. The future does look
bright for patients. By following your doctor's advice you'll be back on the road to recovery
very soon. You'll be full of energy and be able to do things with friends, have fun at
school in your spare time and be just the way you were before the depression started.
So there you have it, winning the game is up to you. Remember think of your doctor as
your coach and follow their advice because even the best of Olympic champions listen
to their coaches and so should you. If you take only one message away from this video
it should be this, if you think that you're suffering from depression get help and get
back up well. The future will be bright again as it should be and that's great news for
you, your family and friends.
This patient educational video has been produced for better health by Roaring, a division of
Pfizer, manufacturers of Zoloft.