Depression is a major thing and will always be around us, it’s not something you can just get over in a day because it is a real illness and happens to many people.

“Chemically speaking, it’s an imbalance or lack of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is a chemical in your brain that regulates things like mood. Arousal, hunger, and sleep a lot of those symptoms are tied to depression,” Mr.Bettendorf, psychology teacher of Lincoln Northeast says. “A kid could just be tired, sad, or could be out of it one day. I tend to look for patterns, as a teacher, what can lead to depression could be major life events, it is linked genetically.”

“Environmental and biological factors,” therapist Allyson Northup, of Psychotherapy services says. “The most common thing is silence, isolation, and sadness. Because there are many different types of depression. Some can have high functioning depression which is they may look fine on the outside but struggling internally.”

“It could be different things. In high school some kids have gone through quite the trauma throughout their lives already. When we do our sexual assault section of health class, it’s amazing to me how many kids have been victims,” Mr.Bulling, health teacher of Lincoln Northeast says. “Some kids are really good at hiding it, and others you can read like a book. What it comes to is changes in behavior is the easiest way to identify.”

It can be hard to endure some things that are around and with life taking major turns you never know who is likely to have depression or who could be a next target for it. A few things could lead to it so it’s good to watch the symptoms. But how often is it seen or known to be around in the classroom?

“Anxiety more often than depression but they usually go hand and hand,” Northup says. “The problem with depression is a lot of people don’t realize they have it because it’s more of an internal battle.”

“Depression is different from sadness. Sadness is a normal and appropriate response to a lot of things in life. A dog dies, a family member dies, or you lose a home, sadness is appropriate” Bettendorf says. “Depression is an actual illness, and an actual disease caused by a chemical imbalance.”

“Rarely do I know. I’m not their psychiatrist, I don’t have their case files, and i’m not the one prescribing medication. Not all students will talk to me about their problems or anything for a lot of reasons,” Bettendorf says.“I suspect depression a lot more then I know. It’s a more common disorder than people think and it doesn’t always present itself the same way.”

“I guess at any one time, if I have a class of 25 kids, I’d say three of them are suffering. That’s just an educated guess,” Bulling says.

There are many ways to lower the effects of depression and to make it not seem to overwhelming on you, some being going outside, doing a hobby, and being with friends and family.

“Research says the #1 way to combat depression is being outdoors and exercise. Medication should always be a last resort,” Northup says.

If kids have depression in school, it can be tough because they may struggle in classes or lose motivation, which can lead to a downfall in grades and gpa. Some feel they aren’t as smart as some other kids and make themselves feel down.

It’s important to try and combat it so that depression won’t be as effective and to lower the affects of having depression to make you feel better. If you or someone you know has depression, just know you aren’t the only one.