By Annika Hom and Victoria Fong
Living with anxiety and depression
Senior Elyse Dixon steps back onto the Aragon campus for the first time in weeks. Her mother is there with her to help fill out forms in the office, and she is free to return to school after being hospitalized.
Dixon is currently diagnosed with both anxiety and major depression, and she is not alone. According to the Huffington Post, 11 percent of adolescents will face “a depressive disorder by the age of 18.”
Depression can range from not feeling like oneself for a couple of weeks to getting a clinical diagnosis. Tailoring the definition of depression to teenagers, Stanford psychiatrist Dr. Shashank Joshi says, “Normally teenagers are pretty resilient, and they can bounce back: sometimes the glass is half empty and sometimes the glass is half full. But with depression, the glass is always half empty.”
Dixon explains how anxiety and depression are for her. “To describe having both is so complex because it is literally polar opposite. You are so stressed out to the point of tears, on the anxiety side, and the depression makes you want to lay in bed and not do anything. So it is sort of the worst of both worlds, because you are struggling.”
At school, Dixon’s anxiety and depression can act as obstacles. “Things just building up on your shoulders, and all the pressure, it is the worst hopelessness and wanting to give up on everything. It gets really tough in high school,” describes Dixon.
However, Dixon points out that though anxiety and depression affect her in those ways, other students diagnosed with these illnesses may react differently. Unlike the common misconception that all kids with the same mental illness have the same symptoms and require the same treatment, the reality is that each person is an individual with different needs.
For example, Dixon’s treatment may differ from those of someone else diagnosed with the same illness. Dixon employs her coping method “Stop and Think” where she pauses and assesses her situation, which she learned from her therapist. “There was even one day of therapy where [my therapist] printed out a page [of] 117 coping skills, and she was like, check off the ones that you think would work. And there’s a bunch like that, and most of those are distracting yourself, but if that works, it works. If thinking about it more works, it works. If writing it out works, it works. Some people rip up paper to relieve stress. That doesn’t work for me, but it works for some people. There is always gonna be a way.”
In addition to personal and family therapy, Dixon’s treatment involves taking medication prescribed by her psychiatrist. Despite the prescription, she feels it does not help her. “I have seen a few cases where, yes, it has worked wonders. But for me personally, I do not feel a difference.”
11% of adolescents will have a depressive disorder by the age of 18, according to the Huffington Post
English teacher Jim Daniel, who also suffers from depression, further demonstrates the individuality of each person’s treatment. Upon diagnosis, he refused to seek therapy from his psychiatrist and solely requested the medicine Zoloft to alleviate his symptoms.
“[Therapy] was kinda pointless. It was like the guy wanted to talk to me and this and this and you know, ‘Jim, I think you feel this way,’ and I am just like, ‘Can you give me a pill? That is what worked for my sister.’ And he’s like, ‘But I think you need to talk. I think you need to talk to people,’ and I am like, ‘Dude. I talk to everyone. I am an open book. So you do not get it.’”
Daniel believes that mental illnesses should be treated like physical illnesses. If a student needs medicine, he or she should receive it. “I had a [student] a few years ago that was really depressed, but his family was like, ‘No, that does not exist, that is not a problem,’ And it is like, ‘No! If that guy tore out his ligaments or knee you would see a doctor. It is the same damn thing! It is nothing to be ashamed of.’ [His parents] finally [admitted it] because he went to college and crashed and burned. He finally saw somebody and got medication,” says Daniel.
Similar to Daniel’s student, Kris* has parents that are not accepting of mental illnesses. After the recent death of a close relative, Kris is experiencing a period of depression. However, Kris cannot confide in her parents for support and hides any signs of depression when around them. “My parents are really religious, so they do not see depression or anxiety as a mental disorder. They believe everything has a bigger purpose in life, so if you have [mental illness], you should easily be able to get over it,” Kris says. “I act differently around them because I am trying to hide [my depression], and I do not really like showing it.”
Unfortunately, many people do not value mental health as much as physical health because it is not visible on the surface. “That is one of the things that is so mysterious about mental health,” Dr. Joshi says. “ [Some people may think], ‘I can’t see it, so people think I am making it up for attention or I am doing it to be melodramatic.’ It is not until you go through something like that you really understand what it is like.”
Many people also think that depression only affects what is happening in one’s mind. Like Dixon, Kris has days where she does not want to go to school and instead sleeps all day. “It’s not just my mind. My whole body reacts to [depression],” explains Kris. “I cannot get up, and I feel really heavy. [I] just feel drained and cannot really do anything.”
Resources
In order to help students dealing with mental illness, Aragon utilizes different resources to show students support, such as the school safety advocate, Joe Toomey, and the grade-level counselors.
Toomey deals with the more emotional side of students. He is able to bring outside professionals to help students, according to their needs. “Generally, I like to focus on anything that is happening socially,” explains Toomey. “Anything that could be family-related, friends, peers, anxiety, depression, excessive worries. Anything that is getting the way of normal functioning.”
Meanwhile, each grade has their own counselor to help them with the academic side of student life. What counselors do not do is tell a student’s teachers about the student’s challenges. Teachers will only know as much as students tell them.
According to the Huffington Post, 50% of Americans who have depression do not seek help for mentall illness
In addition, the counselors help students adjust their schedules to what will work for them best, whether it is taking fewer classes, easier ones to relieve stress, or making more time other activities. One resource they offer students is a 504 plan, which ensures students appropriate accommodations to their academic needs, such as better seating, extended due dates, or priority classes. Dixon, amongst other students, uses this to her advantage.
Upon her return, Dixon recalls how easily the staff understood her reasons of absence. “They took it like ‘Of course, you do not even understand how many people go through this. People we have even had this year have been through it and students struggle with mental disorders.’ That was a refresher. [To know] you are definitely not alone.”
Students who feel uncomfortable sharing their stories with Aragon staff may also seek other outlets, such as help centers. StarVista, the San Mateo County Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Center, offers an anonymous peer chat room Monday through Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. where teens can go and talk about their problems at www.onyourmind.net. They also provide a 24/7 hotline at 650-579-0350. In addition, StarVista provides resources for therapy, support groups, and school outreach and trainings for those who ask.
However, the only way people can receive help is through being able to discuss their struggles. Due to this, Dixon believes people need to expose and talk about mental illness more openly. “People need to recognize that it is normal to need help and honestly, people kind of are ashamed of those issues instead of being open and proud they survived.”
