LEVEL 2

• If you're sad most of the time, and you have many of the symptoms listed here, then the problem may be depression.
• Sadness that lasts a long time (more than 2 weeks) and that has several of the symptoms listed could actually be clinical depression.
• The GOOD NEWS is ... you can get treatment and FEEL BETTER SOON!

GET USEFUL SUPPORT

• Talk to friends, siblings, parents or other trusted adults.
• Remember that you are looking for people you trust who will support you in making changes. They can help you think of new strategies, give you helpful feedback and be supportive while you get past your feeling of sadness or depression.
• People who don’t listen, who just agree with you that a situation is lousy, or who just tell you to ‘get over it’ aren’t helpful and could make you feel worse.

BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF

• If you want things to be different, do something.
• It often takes only one small step to make things better.
• Don’t expect things to be different overnight.
• Set realistic, postitive goals for yourself and allow time.
• Give yourself credit for trying.
• Remember that things don’t always work the first time so keep trying.

PROBLEM SOLVING

• The first step in problem solving is to identify the problem.
• There may be more that one so focus on one at a time.
• One way to identify problems is to pay attention to how your mood changes through the week.
• Notice what’s happening when your mood goes down: what were you thinking about, where were you, what happened just before your mood changed?
• Pick one of the smaller problems and think about what needs to change.
• Try to be specific and detailed. For example “life sucks” isn’t very specific and is much too big too tackle. “I don’t want to get into so angry with my best friend about her boyfriend” is more detailed and makes it clear what’s going wrong and what needs to change.

If these strategies don't work for you, seek the help of a healthcare professional. This can be a family doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, clinical social worker, mental health counsellor, or mental health nurse – they can help you figure out what’s been going on and can make useful suggestions.

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