What is depression?
It’s normal to feel down from time to time. Many people feel sad after they have gone through stressful or difficult situations. This could be a relationship break-up, trouble with family or friends or difficulties in school. If feelings of sadness don’t go away and it is getting in the way of you doing everyday things, it is time to get support.
Depression can affect anyone of any age. It is one of the most commonly experienced emotional problem, but the good news is that depression is treatable - you can get better.
Below are some videos to explain what depression is.
Childline: Feeling Unhappy, Sad or Depressed
A video explaining what depression is and how it feels to have it. This video is 1 minute 49 seconds.
Best For You NHS: How to cope when you're feeling low
A video explaining how other young people cope with their depression. This video is 2 minutes 57 seconds.
West Sussex Mind: Low Mood & Depression - a guide to supporting children and young people
This video may be helpful if you are a parent or carer of a child or young person with anxiety. This video is 5 minutes 27 seconds.
There’s no simple answer for why depression happens. For some people, it can be a mix of events or issues that end up affecting how they feel, think and act. Genetics may also play a role - there may be members of your family who have experienced depression, and this may make you more susceptible to it. There are also a lot of pressures on young people which can also impact on mood - for example experiencing puberty, social media, school/college issues and relationships. Sometimes there’s no clear reason why you feel low.
Common symptoms, emotions and reactions
Depression is different for everyone, but below are some common signs and you might have noticed.
- Feeling tired most of the time
- Low energy and motivation
- Sleep problems
- Eating more or less than you usually do
- Aches and pains like stomachache or headaches
- Feeling unhappy, numb, empty, moody or irritable/angry
- Less interest in things that you used to enjoy
- Feeling worthless or guilty a lot of the time
- Feeling easily overwhelmed
- Lack of confidence
- Withdrawing from family and friends
- Not getting things done
- Difficulty with school or college
- Drinking alcohol and/or taking drugs
- Getting into trouble and fights
- Negative thoughts about yourself, the world and the future
- Having a hard time concentrating, making decisions, or remembering things
- Having thoughts of self harm
- Having thoughts of death or suicide
Please visit our emotional intensity page to find out more about self harm and suicide.
Below is a video from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust which talks about what depression is, the difference between mild and severe depression and signs of depression. This video is 3 minutes 16 seconds.
Depression and Neurodivergence
Some neurodivergent children and young people experience depression. This can be because it is harder to manage your emotions and living in a world that doesn't meet your needs. Please visit the National Autistic Society's website for more information.
We encourage you or your parents and carers to talk to your clinician about adjustments you may need. We will make adaptations to support you to engage with the treatment we offer.
Below are some example of adjustments you could ask for.
- Movement breaks during sessions
- Turning bright lights off
- Using visuals or writing your thoughts down
- Session plans sent before and after sessions
How can I help myself?
If you have to wait for therapy or you can't access it for any reason, or if you just want to try things to help yourself here are some things you can do to manage depression.
- Talk to someone you trust about how you are feeling - you could use an emotion wheel and body map to help you identify and explain your feelings.
- Moving – walking, running or doing any form of exercise - especially if it is outside, you could listen to music or a podcast at the same time.
- Breathing – taking control of/slowing down your breathing can help you feel calmer. Try taking a slow deep breath in through your nose for 5 seconds, hold this breathe for 5 seconds, then slowly breathe out through your mouth for 5 seconds. You may find the West Sussex Mind video below helpful.
- Personal Coping Plan - you might find it helpful to do this with someone you trust, there is more information on this here.
- Self-soothe box - you might it helpful to make this, there is more information on this here.
- Distraction and grounding techniques - you might like to use the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste
- Relaxation and mindfulness - you can find guided relaxation and mindfulness videos on YouTube or there are some apps below.
Mind: 30 second breathing exercise
This video guides you through a short breathing exercise. The video is 31 seconds.
Support while I am waiting
We know that it can be difficult waiting for therapy to start.
There are a number of different places that can offer some support whilst you wait, and there are places that you can go to learn more about depression. Some of these support services and resources are outlined below.
Please note that none of these support services are a replacement for treatment, but they can be a good way to connect with others with common experiences and continue working towards your goals. They are also may not be able to provide urgent help.
If your life is in immediate danger, please call 999 or go to A&E.
- Text the word SUSSEX to 85258 (free NHS 24/7 mental health text-messaging support service)
- Call NHS 111 and select the mental health option (free 24/7 advice service for anyone concerned about their own, or someone else’s, mental health)
- Call Samaritans on 116 123 (free 24/7 listening service providing support and advice for anyone having thoughts of suicide). You can also email: jo@samaritans.org
- Call Hopeline247 on 0800 068 4141 (free 24/7 listening service offering support and advice for young people having thoughts of suicide). You can also email: pat@papyrus-uk.org or text: 88247
- Call Childline on 0800 1111 (free 24/7 support and advice for young people who want to talk about how they are feeling). You can also speak to a trained professional via web chat: https://
www. childline.org.uk/ get-support/ 1-2-1-counsellor-chat/
If you do not current have a lead practitioner within CAMHS and you are waiting for treatment, you can contact the CAMHS duty team if your mental health gets worse and you need some support. The duty team is not an emergency service, and you can expect to get a response within 2 to 14 working days, if you require more urgent help, you should call 111/999/attend A&E.
More information about depression
Below are some links to additional information about depression.
Please note: This is a collection of resources that children and young people often find helpful, and they are not authored by or owned by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. We will attempt to keep these resources as up to date as possible, but you may find changes with the links and information given.
Websites
This website describes what depression is, the symptoms of depression, how you can get support for depression and how you can look after yourself.
Papyrus is a UK charity working to prevent suicide in young people. You can find more information about suicide and find out about what support you can access.
YoungMinds - supporting your child or young person
The link below describes what depression is, how to identify depression in your young person and what you can do to help them.
Depression & Low Mood | Signs, Symptoms & Treatment | YoungMinds
Papyrus
Papyrus is a UK charity working to prevent suicide in young people. You can find more information about suicide and find out about what support you can access.
Anna Freud - Supporting Children and Young People
The links below provide information on supporting children and young people with depression. They give an overview of the depression, signs to look out for and how to support them.
Supporting children and young people with depression | Anna Freud
A webinar for parents and carers about supporting children and young people with depression
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - Depression: A parent and carer workshop
This webinar is 1 hour and 3 minutes, it provides more detailed information about what depression is, identifying symptoms of depression, risk factors, treatment and how can you help as a parent or carer.
Please note some of these app may require payment or paid subscriptions to access certain features of the apps.
For depression
What's 
What's Up? is a free app utilising some CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) methods to help you cope with Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Stress and more!
Features include:
- Strategies to help with immediate distress management
- Advice on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and challenging them, understanding your thoughts better and managing worries
- Information on anger, anxiety, depression, self-esteem and stress
- Diary feature
- Habit tracker
- Notes
An app with tools to help with sadness and depression by alleviating negative moods with research-supported tools.
Molehill Mountain is an app to help autistic people understand and self-manage anxiety.
Features include:
- Track worries and causes of anxiety
- Daily evidence-based exercises to work through your worries
- Practical evidence-based tips to manage anxiety and build confidence
- Breathing exercise
- Worry mountain
For parents and carers
Combined Minds helps families and friends to find ways to provide the right environment to help the individuals they support affect their own change. This provides support to families and friends to help them understand and manage their loved one's difficulties including anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, digital addiction and safety planning.
For mindfulness and relaxation
Free mobile app with virtual “bells” to time and support your meditations, and access to lots of guided meditations by many different meditation teachers. Please note that parts of this app require a paid subscription.
Chill Panda is a game-style app that incorporates breathing exercises and coping strategies to help manage anxiety in an interactive way. You can engage in the app by playing the full game mode or use the "Quick Chill" function to access skills quickly.
You may find other helpful apps on the Sussex Health and Wellbeing app library.
Please note that not all of these books may be available to loan at your local library.
For younger children
Ideal for children aged 5 to 11 year olds
This book helps normalise feeling sad and help children to understand their sadness and how to express their sadness.
Ideal for children aged 7 to 11 years old
This book explains what depression is and the signs to look out for. It includes practical strategies to help look after yourself including mindfulness, therapy techniques and when to ask for help.
Ideal for children aged 10+
This book uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques to help children and young people understand their depression and learn practical skills to look after themselves with games, drawing and stories.
For older children and teenagers
Ideal for children aged 12 years and above
This book uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques to help young people understand their depression. The book uses stories and activities to learn ways to cope and look after themselves.
Ideal for children aged 12 years and above
This book uses mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy techniques to understand depression and learn ways to cope and look after yourself.
For children and young people with intellectual and learning disabilities
This picture book shows what happens to Ron when is depressed. It shows him having counselling and being prescribed antidepressants.
This picture book shows what happens when Sonia is depressed. It shows Sonia being prescribed antidepressants and having counselling.