Teen Health Course 3

Introduction
People often describe depression as a dark cloud of sadness that hangs over their lives that will not go away. Others feel as if a heavy weight is always pulling at them making even ordinary, everyday tasks difficult. However you describe it, depression can be a serious condition with serious consequences if not treated. On the Web site below, you will get the facts about depression – what causes it, the symptoms, and what to do about it.

Link to explore: The National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/letstalk.cfm

Directions

• Start at the National Institute of Mental Health Web site.
• Read through the page on depression.
• Take notes as you read.
• When you are done reading, answer the questions below.
• Finally, using the information from the link, create a depression checklist poster that includes information at the bottom on where teens who are concerned about depression can get help.

1.			How many kinds of depression are there and what are they called?
2.			When a person has bipolar depression, what happens?
3.			What can be done to treat depression?
4.			Why do a lot of depressed people, especially teenagers, also have problems with alcohol or other drugs?
5.			What are the three myths about depression and why are they wrong?