How depression can affect you
Depression affects people in different ways. It can make it hard to concentrate and lead to you feeling negative about everything and like you'll never feel okay again.
Feeling depressed can be really hard to deal with. Some people start to self-harm by hurting themselves, taking drugs, drinking a lot of alcohol or deliberately putting themselves in risky situations. It's really important to get help if you're doing this.
It's common for many young people to have problems with food at some time in their lives. When some people become depressed they might find they also start to have problems with eating. They might try to starve themselves, overeat, vomit or use laxatives to lose weight after overeating. If you're worried about anything to do with eating, you can get help on our pages about eating problems.
Some people who experience really serious depression might feel so bad about themselves and their life that they think that the only way out is to kill themselves. If you're having suicidal thoughts or feelings or are worried about one of your friends, you're not alone and there's help for you. Please call a Childline counsellor for free on 0800 1111 or talk to someone you trust about it.