Bailey

May 5, 2015 By Leave a Comment

What Brings Me Hope:  My Story

Depression is a very common thing being diagnosed in teens nowadays. About 1 in 4 people will have or already have depression. I think the parents of teens should be more informed and aware about this mental illness. About 20% of teens will experience depression before they’re an adult. Also, only 30% of the teens who have already been diagnosed with depression are being treated for it (Depression. NIMH RSS). In recent years, suicide has been happening more often than not. For example, between 2009 and 2011 the Anoka-Hennepin school district had 9 suicides. That’s an average of 3 suicides a year. There were students being bullied about being gay and their sexual orientation (Documentary Chronicles Student Suicides in Anoka-Hennepin). It’s still a sensitive subject to this day because it hits home to a lot of families, especially since this happened a couple hundred miles away from where we live. There are a few ways to spot depression such as: loss of sleep, sleep changes, more anger and hostility, appetite and weight gain or loss, helplessness and hopelessness, always feeling down on yourself. If you see you child going through any of these things, you should talk to them and assure them that you’re there for them. You also should offer them help and throw out the idea of seeing a doctor to get treatment. Depression can come from multiple things such as death, genetics, abuse, medications someone can be on, drug abuse, etc… Eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep on a daily basis can help treat depression. There are also medications such as Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Cymbalta and so many more. If your child has depression, make sure they know that you love them and they’ll get through this with your help. Sometimes telling someone you love them and what they mean to you could change almost everything.

Works Cited
“Depression.” NIMH RSS. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.
“Depression (major Depressive Disorder).” Depression (major Depression) Definition. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.
“Documentary Chronicles Student Suicides in Anoka-Hennepin.” ABC Newspapers. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.

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Filed Under: Children, Depression, Families, Hope Stories, iFred, Mental Health, Teens, Uncategorized, Wall For Hope Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
About Kathryn

Kathryn Goetzke has over 30 years of experience in marketing, branding, and strategy. She was recently appointed to be a representative at the United Nations for the World Federation for Mental Health. Kathryn is the Founder of iFred, the International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression, through which she created Hopeful Minds and Hopeful Cities, two programs dedicated to sharing the “how-to” of hope with children, parents, and communities globally. Kathryn presented at Harvard University, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Never Alone Summit. Hopeful Minds was featured in a documentary by the BBC, and her products and projects have been featured in global media.

Kathryn is a Partner at Innovative Analysis, LLC, where she consults businesses on activating hope in the workplace, and created a college program Hopeful Mindsets, a marketing strategy and course for college students to activate hope on campus. She is the author of the Biggest Little Book About Hope and host of The Hope Matrix Podcast. In her role as Chief Mood Officer at The Mood Factory, she created the first nationwide cause marketing campaign for mental health through her brand Mood-lites, which achieved over 35M in retail sales. Ms. Goetzke serves on advisory boards for FundaMentalSDG, Y Mental Health, Women’s Brain Project, and the Global Mental Health Movement.

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