In class you see the kid who is always sad and down or maybe your neighbor who never smiles. Depression is a serious disorder that has no cure and it affects more people than you could ever imagine. According to “Sobering Statistics” in adolescents, psychiatric disorders such as depression often go undetected and untreated for years.

People think depression can only occur in adults. That is not true! Depression is rarely heard of in toddlers and in young children. Sadly, cases of depression are rarely heard of and depression is not publicized like suicide. I am living proof that you can have depression as a young child; I have had it since I was three.

I developed depression when my dad was not allowed to see me and when I was always being mistreated at home. I always felt like no one cared and that I was all alone. I was mistreated my whole life and I did not see my dad for fifteen years and because of that my depression got worse and it was never treated.

Schools need more counselors to help the kids. Having more counselors would mean that the counselor would have more one on one time with the child and actually be able to help them. In schools today there are only one or two counselors per school. They are overloaded with school events and are not able to help the children that really need it.
Having you ever seen depression publicized for young children and teens? The public and media mainly focus on adult depression, not depression in young children and teens. If more support groups were made available and aware to the public, more people would get help for their depression. We see clinics all over the place in towns and in cities for STDs, suicide attempts, alcohol and drug rehab, but not for depression. Having a free or low-cost clinic for suffers of depression would mean more people could be treated and percentages of untreated cases of depression would dramatically drop. According to “All About Depression” depression affects 19 million Americans in a given year…two-thirds of those who are depressed never seek treatment and suffer needlessly…80%-90% of those who seek treatment for depression can feel better within just a few weeks.
How many more people have to suffer from depression before we decide to do something about it? There may be no cure for it, but there is help. No child or teen should have to through it alone and feel like no one cares. Because no child or teen should let depression take over their lives and/or ruin it. Are you willing to lend a helping hand to help our children no longer suffer?

*Please contact your state senator and urge them to introduce a bill on creating clinics for depression. Also encourage them to hire more counselors in schools for people who suffer from depression*