Helping Youths With Depression

PerformCare understands that depression can be hard to deal with, especially for young people. We want to teach you ways to help yourself if you have depression.

Always get help from your doctor, family, friends or a therapist first.

There are some simple changes you can make to lift your mood:

  • Exercise every day.
  • Eat healthy foods.
  • Get the right amount of sleep.
  • Be around people who make you happy.
  • Find a hobby you enjoy.

Other tips for dealing with dealing with depression

  • Depression can make you feel stressed out, nervous or even angry. These feelings can be confusing. As your depression starts to lift, these feelings will lessen.
  • If you feel pressure at school or it takes you longer to do a task because you are nervous or upset, ask your teacher for more time.
  • Talk to your parents or your doctor about what bothers you.
  • Practice deep breathing exercises, do yoga or listen to calming music. Usually some type of physical activity helps with anger.
  • Write down all the reasons you feel angry. Then rip the paper and throw it away.
  • Ask your doctor or therapist for other suggestions.

Here are some other ideas you can do to restore your mood and lift your depression:

  1. Identify. Try to decide what causes your depression. When did you start feeling down? What was going on at the time? Did anything make it better or worse? 
  2. Plan. Now that you have thought about how your depression started, think about steps to lower your depression. Then, take action! Set a few goals that are easy and realistic for you. Share the plan with your doctor, your therapist or your family. Look at it every day but take your time and don’t be too hard on yourself. Changes are easier when you break them down into small steps.
  3. Celebrate. Don't forget to celebrate when you met a goal! Reward yourself in some small way and share your success with your doctor, therapist and family. Now move on to the next goal! Be kind and patient with yourself. Think positive and your depression will get better over time.
Self-management tools