What to look for

Depression doesn’t just cause young people to feel sad or down, and anxiety doesn’t just make people worry. Teenagers can express depression and anxiety in many different ways. They may:

• have trouble falling or staying asleep, or complain of restless, unsatisfying sleep
• be tired, grumpy, irritable, tearful or upset most of the time
• feel restless, keyed-up or on edge
• lose interest in things they used to enjoy, and have trouble starting and completing assignments or work
• be forgetful, lose concentration and be easily distracted
• become withdrawn and lose friends
• either refuse to eat or eat a lot, and either lose or gain weight quickly
• have tense or sore muscles
• complain of feeling physically awful, with unexplained aches and pains, and not want to go to school.