Depression

What is depression?

Many young people can experience periods of low mood, especially after upsetting or difficult experiences or sometimes just out of the blue. Depression, however, is a specific mental ill health condition which causes extended periods of low mood. Depression also affects how a person thinks and behaves and is accompanied by specific physical symptoms too.

About depression

Depression is more common in teenage years. Whilst individual reasons are very different, the symptoms of depression respond well to psychological treatment, specifically Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Behavioural Activation Therapy (BAT) which focusses on increasing motivation to change depression impacted behaviours. The stem4 Move Mood app uses BAT principles. There are also a range of other effective treatments that a person can find out more about by seeing their GP.

How do I know if I have depression?

Depression can affect young people in several different ways. Some people might have just some of the symptoms whilst others might have quite a few. Therefore, it’s important to ask a health professional to make the diagnosis. The stem4 ‘asking for help’ booklet provides lots of tips on how you can ask for help.

How to help

How do I know if I have depression?

Depression can affect us in a number of different ways. Some people might have just some of the symptoms whilst others might have quite a few. It’s important to get a professional to make the diagnosis.

Some symptoms include:

  • Sleep changes
  • Appetite changes
  • Lethargy or extreme tiredness
  • Increased pain

  • Negative thoughts
  • Concentration problems
  • Lack of interest
  • Slowed down thinking

  • Lack of engagement
  • Quiet and withdrawn
  • Possible self-harm
  • Possible misuse of alcohol, drugs and other substances

  • Feeling sad
  • Feeling numb
  • Feeling hopeless
  • Feeling overwhelmed

Download the Move Mood app

Move Mood uses the evidence-based treatment Behavioural Activation Therapy to help you improve your mood by encouraging you to increase your motivation to carry out a variety of tasks in order to help you to move forward, take control and feel positive. It can be downloaded free from the App Store or Google Play. Find out more at https://movemood.stem4.org.uk.

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