Video Transcription

Understanding depression and anxiety – ft Ruby Rose

Have you been feeling really down or more stressed than usual? Well, you’re not alone. Many young people get caught in a cycle of sadness, worry, and insecurity. For some, these feelings are related to something that’s happened in their life, like exam stress, family conflict, or perhaps friendship hassles. But for others, it might be because they’re experiencing depression or anxiety. Depression is when the feelings of sadness last longer than normal, affect most parts of your life, and stop you from enjoying the things you used to, not just when you’ve had a couple of bad weeks. Anxiety is a normal emotion, but when it gets in the way of what you want to do and takes over your thoughts, it may become an anxiety disorder.

• (Voiceover) My world was grey. Nothing was fun anymore.
• (Voiceover) I didn’t expect it to happen to me. It came out of nowhere.
• (Voiceover) As soon as I was with other people, I’d freak out. I couldn’t even go to school without it being a major drama.
• (Voiceover) Depression takes hold of you, and it follows you everywhere.

Depression or anxiety can really impact how you live your life, your study, your work, and your relationships with friends and family. But anxiety and depression can be managed. There are things you can do for yourself, but sometimes it’s useful to get some help from others.

Young people often ask themselves, “Are these feelings I’m having a sign that I need extra help, or are they just part of the normal feelings that everybody goes through during a difficult time?”

There are some things to look out for. One thing is if you’re not able to function in your usual roles. This means you can’t take part in your family life, your school life, your friendships, or your hobbies and activities the way you usually do. Another sign is if you’re getting really down on yourself, feeling very critical of yourself, or like you don’t like yourself at all, and thinking your future is bleak.

There are specific symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. Anxiety symptoms include worrying all the time about a wide range of things. Another sign of anxiety is avoiding things—avoiding things because you’re too afraid to try them or too afraid to do them. A third sign of anxiety is experiencing panic attacks, which are sudden episodes of anxiety with a lot of physical symptoms.

On the other hand, depression is associated with symptoms like problems with eating, either eating too much or not feeling like eating at all, and problems with sleeping, especially trouble falling asleep or staying asleep once you get to sleep.

So, what do you do if you think you need help or if someone else thinks you might need help? If the problems aren’t too severe, self-help might be a good approach. Get good-quality information. Find out the facts about the problems you’re dealing with. Keep active. Keep doing the things you would normally do. Reach out to other people—talk to friends and family about what you’re going through. They may have dealt with some of these problems themselves and might have good ideas about things you can do.

If things are a bit more serious, then you might want to talk to someone and get counseling. Life can be busy and challenging, working out where you want to be and how you’re going to get there. If depression or anxiety begin to get in the way, there are things you can do to get back on track. Getting help and support can improve how you feel about day-to-day things, give you strategies to overcome challenges, and make you more optimistic about the future. Remember, you’re not alone.

• (Voiceover) I’ve finally been able to ask for help. It’s not easy. I mean, I still want to hide from the world and pretend nothing is wrong with me, but I’m finding courage from my friends and my family.
• (Voiceover) It takes a lot of time and hard work, but things do get better.

Video by headspace