Depression and Loneliness

I don't know if I have a problem. Sometimes I get really depressed and I can't stop crying, (this usually happens at night). In the morning I always feel better. I always have thoughts of suicide no matter what. Do you think this is a problem? - Sad One

I am so alone. Lucky there's a VCR in my room. I can watch Shakespeare in Love and watch Gyneth Paltrow fall in love. Nobody would fall in love with me, that's for sure. Ever. I wish Mom would let the cleaning lady in my room. She says that I have to clean it up since it's so disgusting. I should deal with it. Well it's not so easy. I'm too tired. Where do I start? I feel like I'm in a fog, a cloud I can't get out of. When I move, the air surrounds me like I'm walking through blue exhaust from a trailer truck.

Amanda is probably an O.K., pretty well put together kid. How do I know that? Because although she's hurting inside, 1) she is in school and not at home in a panic and 2) you don't hear her complaining about how miserable she was the year before in school. I think she's going to be O.K. Yes, Amanda is suffering and feels alone and confused. But a lot of kids like Amanda don't realize that some pain and confusion go hand in hand with growing up and trying to fit into the world. Amanda is dealing with questions like: * "Do people like me?" * "What do kids think of me?" * "Am I boring or ugly or dumb?" * "Will I ever be popular?" * "Should I try and change my personality?" I'm sure that many of you out there have asked these very same questions.

My dad and I get into so many stupid little fights its not funny. Sometimes I feel like I'm nothing but a punching bag for him to take out his anger on. My mom and I get along great but sometimes it gets a little ugly, but we work it out. With my dad, I can hold a grudge forever. My mom tells me that his parents were really strict and hard on him, but I don't think he should take it out on me.

Amanda, 13 1/2, is not one of the "in" kids whom everyone wants to sit next to. "What's wrong with me," she's wondering, "and how will I deal with the anxiety of the first day?" I always hate the first day of school. Not the shopping part - that I like. It's fun to get new clothes and shoes. And I love wrapping all my books so everything looks perfect, and getting all the new notebooks and pens, and cool erasers. But I hate thinking about who I'm gonna sit near.

Dean, age 17, is having trouble with his family. He feels that they are stifling his freedom, and he wishes they would leave him alone.

Juliet is 16 years old. She is sitting on her bed, with a razor in her hand. I can't believe I'm going to do this again. I thought it was over - everything was going so well. My scars are almost white, not that angry pink they were for so long. I thought I was feeling OK now. But then it just rises up again, this terrible anger. And then - nothing. Like I'm so angry, I go numb.

That feeling of being overwhelmed by fatigue, and unable to drum up the energy to do anything is a real sign of depression. If it continues for more than a short while it's time to pay attention. If you have a friend that has been in a funk for more than a few weeks, or if you yourself are unable to shake off that "absolutely no energy for anything" state, it is time to turn for help. Moodiness and low energy levels are certainly typical of many teens, for short periods of time, every now and again. For Mom to think that her daughter or son is just lazy and moody, and not to pay serious attention to what is really going on, is a mistake.

Juliet is suffering silently from self-injury syndrome, something that most sufferers suffer alone, and in shame. While some experts have seen self-injury as similar to suicide, just stopping short of it, most see self-injury as a distinct entity. Why do people, and especially women and young women, engage in such activities ranging from hairpulling and cutting one's self to much more severe forms of self mutilation? For those of us who don't engage in this kind of activity it seems bizarre bordering on crazy.

Q: Hi, I am 13 and live in Covina Ca. I have been really depressed lately and often thought about suicide. I don't think that I could ever actually do it because I now how much it could hurt my friends, family, teachers and such. It's weird because I am a good student, always getting a 3.5 GPA or above, am pretty popular, am also on good terms with my teachers and love school, yet through all the good stuff I am always unhappy.