By Dasia Whitfield

Teen depression is something that is very common. Many teens deal with depression. Everyone deals with depression differently. Some teens speak about it and some prefer to keep it to themselves.

In 2017, 11.01% youths from the age 12-17 reported suffering from at least one major depression, according to the website, Mental Health America.

Mr. Licier, the principal of cohort 2019, a person that deals with teenagers every day, stated that “Depression is a state of emotional instability”.
Depression could be handled in so many ways. Often, when a kid is really suffering and has no one to go to, it could lead to suicide. Suicide ranked as the tenth leading cause of death among Americans for many years.

Some people could maybe cope with depression if they had somebody to talk to or felt comfortable discussing it with someone.  “Dealing with depression could be hard to deal with because some people have the inability…not wanting to socialize or be with anyone else”, said Mr. Licier.

Depression is natural, but I think that it could be prevented if people go out and enjoy life and do something productive. Diamond Oliver a 12th grader who attends Patterson High, stated that “Yes there are a lot [of things that can help,] such as doing activities that you like, such as hanging with friends and family, getting out the house, thinking positive, and writing how you feel down.”

Dealing with depression could cause a bad feeling because sometimes when you feel like you have no-one, then you feel like you have no support and you can’t really explain your feelings and what was going on in your head.

According to the website, WebMD, depression can be prevented and avoided from coming back by taking very good care of yourself, reaching out to family and friends when times get tough, get help immediately if you feel like you are depressed instead of waiting because the feeling can get worse. Get enough sleep and eat well.