Handouts

• Questions about depression
• Questions for Public Service Announcement
• Resources Fact Sheet
• Questions to respond to
• Research Topics
• Letter to Parents
• Learning Aids
• Other Resources

Handout 1: Depression: Illness v. Mood?

1. A few months ago, S. learned that her parents were getting divorced. She knew that they had been having a rough time for a while. But, it seemed like things were getting better. Now her mom wants to move away. She is sleeping a lot more than usual. She goes to sleep really early and finds it really hard to wake up. She feels totally drained. During the day, S. seems to be feeling really angry, sad, numb, scared and irritable. Sometimes she doesn't even know what she's feeling. She just cries a lot and argues with her parents. She feels like she hates them. S. used to be really social, but now she hardly goes out. She doesn't know what's happening since she's not "acting like herself."

2. B. feels irritable most of the time. It seems like he snaps at people for the littlest things. He used to do a lot of fun stuff with his friends. Recently, however, he's stopped going out. Although he can play basketball pretty well, B. says he's too tired to hang out and shoot hoops after school. Mostly he goes home, naps and then stays up at night working on his computer because he says he can't fall asleep. He's experimented with some with drugs. His parents are worried because he doesn't seem like "himself" and he doesn't want to do "family" things like he used to. He feels like something is wrong with him but he's uncomfortable talking about his feelings and doesn't want his friends to think he's weak.

3. T. is having a really bad day. She failed her math test and is not looking forward to telling her parents about it. She stayed up really late last night and now feels exhausted. And, she's lost her ticket for a sold-out concert this weekend. T is a normally a good math student, so she knows that she's not going to fail the class. She talks about her situation with some friends. One of her friends reminds her that "tomorrow is another day" and she sarcastically says, "yeah right!" But, T does believe that tomorrow is going to be better.