::raises hand::

More than half of my close male friends struggled with moderate to serious bouts of depression in high school. Self-reporting does not yield accurate numbers, IMO.

that's pretty depressing news...

Being a teenager is so f'ing hard. I wouldn't have survived if there had been classmates on the internets saying mean things about me, on top of all the other normal high school issues I dealt with. These poor girls.

I find it interesting that we think of boys as being less likely to report their unhappiness. Like you say, thinking back now, I can pinpoint several periods of depression throughout my adolesence, times that I personally dismissed by thinking I was just being a "teenage girl."

I want to go back and slap myself silly for all the moping and crying and ANGST! I didn't journal a whole lot ( i had a very nosey mom) but I wrote poems... all day, any emo band would slit their wrists to get their mitts on THAT gold!

Since High School is a key building block during your formative years it is disturbing how this can imperil young women's potential. It affects their performance, grades and SAT scores and which leads to barriers in higher education.

I had anxiety and mild depression issues as a teen but it didn't actually develop into full-blown clinical depression until I was an adult. I definitely can look back and see the pattern developing, though. I do think a HUGE part of teen depression/angst is caused by hormones and your body changing. It can be really scary.

I suffered from a major bout of clinically-diagnosed depression in my late teens. My gran used to say, "Oh, teenagers just like being depressed," but it's really no picnic not being able to figure out why you feel like shit every day. I don't get why people wouldn't take teen depression seriously.

That's 13% in the past year - I'd bet the percentage would be a LOT higher if you were to lengthen the time period.

@Khrushchev: I should add that I dismissed it at the time in OTHER GIRLS as well--for instance, is this a picture of Christina Ricci in Prozac Nation? Because I read that book in high school and scoffed throughout.

I went through a really tough time during the spring of my junior year in high school. I couldn't concentrate on school work and my grades slipped. My family has always been a little dysfunctional, but we loved eachother alot. However, I began shutting my parents and brother out. I would stay in my room for hours doing nothing of significance. I finally got over it when progress reports came and I was in danger of failing two classes. I think this may have been mild depression, so I can't imagine how terrible a more serious case could be.

@KIbbit: Why would you slap yourself silly for those poems? You probably needed those poems.

I spent a lot of time being sad, but I don't know if I would have ever admitted to being depressed if I had been asked something like that in a survey.

@twobighands: I knew guys who probably could have counted as depressed, too. They, too, probably woudln't have said it, though, if someone had asked.

I've never struggled with actual depression but it alarms me how much it's stigmatized. People are made to feel bad--like they're weak, or otherwise somehow lacking--if they dare to admit that they'd like help. It's horrible.

Ugh, I had terrible depression when I was in high school (and after). Set me on the path to cutting and a brief period of hospitalization. Looking back, I think I knew that I was depressed, but didn't want to say anything about it. Given my mom's history of depression, though, it's amazing she didn't pick up on it earlier. She tried to explain my behaviour away by positing that I might be a lesbian. No, not a lesbian, just an unhappy kid with a lot of scars on her arms.

Oh high school. Junior year was my bad year. I was in love with a boy I couldn't have, I was confused about who I was.

But compared to working in an office, I'd gladly go back to those days.

@Khrushchev: they were all about "mean boys" and 100000000000000 times overdramatic!

In my experience, a lot of my middle and high school sad-times (it wasn't clinical depression) was taking things so damn seriously. When you're that age, everything seems like such a big deal and the littlest things make you so stressed out and want to die.
We definitely have to address depression in teens. But we also have to distinguish between depression and being an emotional teenager.
Because the last thing we need is every over-protective mother running to get their kids Prozac and Zoloft to cure SAT stress.
But we also don't need girls who are clinically depressed being told to "get over it" either.

This is interesting ... according to the sports article, girls under-report physical injuries. But according to this study, girls are reporting emotional issues at a much higher rate than boys.

I went through a several-month bout of what would be called depression now back when I was 15. I was setting up to commit suicide, thinking I had no friends in the world, when my phone rang and ... it was a friend, just calling up to b.s. a while and tell me about something that I'd said at school that day that she thought was hilarious. But this happened in the 70s, and being suicidal/depressed just wasn't something anyone acknowledged.

When I went through my worst bout (between freshman and soph years of college), my mom asked me--TWICE--if I was on drugs.

I was not.

I wanted to be...but I was not.

God almighty, if a "major depressive episode" is 2 weeks or more, what would they define my 5 year depression as? Thanks for the genes, Dad!

My toughest time was between 8th grade and 10th grade. Ridiculous shit. I've taken informal polls amongst my friends and we all sort of agreed that thats the craziest time.

I've never dealt with depression personally, but teenage depression should be handled with more care. In high school one of my best friends had a breakdown and she was sent away to a rehab. I couldn't for the life of me understand why she was depressed because she never let on any clues, she was seemingly a content girl. When she got back from rehab, she opened up and told me her brother had molested her when she was in 4th grade and her parents had blamed her for the molestation. So if my friends parent's didn't take her depression seriously, I can't even begin to fathom her desperation.

I never told anyone about it either.

I had a hard time adjusting from high school to college...So much drama and crying. Ugh.

@meaghan2k: Why can't I be in high school now that I am emotionally stable and prettier? It would be so much fun.

Hello girl in photograph. You look just like me throughout my whole junior year.

@megnificent: Yeah, I agree. Two weeks does not seem long enough to be a 'major depresseive episode'. Maybe that is because I have been depressed for years, but still. I think perhaps girls are more willing to admit they're depressed because they think that makes them special, or especially deserving of attention, but boys just view it as being weak.

I think this article falls under the 'no shit survey' moniker. and JUST one in ten?

I don't have a link, but I read an article that stated the stress level the average American has today could have you labeled as mentally unstable in the 1950's. No wonder there are so many bouts of teen depression/suicides.

@ineffable.me: That's the problem with the teenage years. If you tell anyone, even a friend, about something like depression, it can be used against you. Then you get tormented about it, which makes you more depressed.

Maybe if we stopped the mythology that high school is supposed to be the best years of our lives, it would help. Lower the expectations a little. My son is going to be told, "Look, it's 4 years. It will suck for at least part of it. Get through it, go to college, and you'll never see those people again."

I'm surprised the figure isn't higher.

Grrr... one child with mental health problems gets put on an adult ward every week in the UK. I will never not be angry about that. Letter writing doesn't seem to do any good, because so much more funding would be needed to stop the problem completely.

I started contemplating suicide at about age 13. I certainly never told anyone about any of my most disturbing thoughts and feelings. I don't think I developed more serious depression and anxiety until later, because the extreme lows were always balanced by the hope and belief in my potential that I have seemed to have lost over the next 10+ years.

@megnificent: The mythology is the worst part. That also made the transition from high school to college so much harder--because I was depressed at the beginning of college, I assumed it would all be downhill from there. Wrong!

I found out in college that I had been depressed since sophomore year of high school. I had no idea during the time, but it was so horrible. I wish someone had recognized it earlier, maybe I could've started treatment earlier. But luckily here I am, age 24, and I feel pretty damn good these days.

If you think someone may be depressed, DO SOMETHING! Often they need to find it in themselves to get help, but some people, like teen girls, need someone to step in.

@megnificent: That's basically what I told my kids when they were in high school. Seemed to work out fine. It seems that they are more college people than high school people.

@smallymcpocket: Me too -- I would not have been surprised to see a 3 in 10 or even 5 in 10.

Last year when my daughter was 13, she was very depressed, and finally told me she sometimes wished she could just end it all. I asked her if she thought that meant she sometimes felt suicidal, and she nodded. I shattered inside.
Of course, we instantly went to get help (just therapy, no drugs were determined to be needed, which I was happy about - I didn't want to go down that road if she didn't have to).
One of the scary things is how incredibly difficult it is to find a competent mental health pro when you need one. Another almost scarier thing is to be able to afford it when you're 'working poor' - we barely meet the bills each month; there isn't any left over for treatments. We were so fortunate to find a superb counselor who got my daughter back to health and happiness. And waived her fee. I bless her every day.
Yay!! A happy ending. I wish the same for every teen struggling, and for their families.

@layladylan: Me as well, but bipolar. Very obvious manic and depressive episodes all throughout high school that I struggled to verbalize into "PLEASE HELP ME." I just kept cycling and cycling until I finally completely broke down in my 20s. (When I chat with teachers I'm still in touch with, they're like, Ohhhhh . . . now it makes sense why you were bouncing off the walls and talking so fast for a few weeks every so often . . .) And for bipolar in particular, the more it goes ignored and untreated, the worse it can get. I really hope that parents and teachers start paying more attention to signs as opposed to blaming it all on hormones and "normal high school drama."

I have to think that the solution has to do with the circumstances under which most children learn and are socialized. Virtually everything that accompanies life as an adolescent is dictated by some hegemonic structure replete with connotations and stereotypes, often reinforces by institutions presumed to be charged with the successful development of children into adults (you know, schools).

Obviously there's a primary parental role in these matters, but that's less easily analyzed because each individual case is so different. But when it comes to schools, from top to bottom they serve more to socialize children with stereotypes, and have little to offer when it comes to genuine learning. Students are not in any way empowered in their work, nor given any kind of effective adult guidance.

Educational hierarchies play a huge part, in that they are constantly confirming themselves, and that becomes part and parcel of those who participate within them. Most of them have little interest in engaging themselves productively, socially or academically, and why should they? Even though they're young, they understand certain critical concepts that we do - that engaging in activities in which you cannot respect yourself, whether in work or in school, will inevitably lead to serious issues of esteem, image and depression. So in many ways, our failed educational system has conditioned many children to be depressed. Honestly, I'm surprised the number isn't higher.

@misssgolightly: In my junior year I created the six months rule, If x would still be a concern in 6 (or more) months then it gets my attention. If not: peace out, don't need the drama. It sounds silly, but it was totally revolutionary for me at the time. I still use it sometimes when I find myself getting all ferklempt over something.

@KathrynwithaY loves Joan Collins: Tell me about it. I wanted to leave home SO badly.
Now I'm 600 miles away and cannot wait to go back. I totally took high school for granted. I had to be away from home for 7 weeks, and could barely get out of bed the first half of my second semester. My boyfriend was finally like "I don't care how much it costs, I'm visiting you for a week because you can't do this again."

that's it? sheeeit. put any semi-intelligent fourteen year old girl into mind-numblingly boring and idiotic school system, add abercrombie, a few misguided romantic encounters, mix well, and consume accordingly. i was always angsty and forlorn as fuck and my mom scraped together funds to send me to a shrink, who recommended kiddie prozac post-haste. ma dukes snatched me out that office just as quick as you please. today i'm a generally happy, albeit occasionally very stabby, functional human being.

@ItchykooParker: Parental involvement is so, so important. I honestly don't know where I'd be today if my mom hadn't forced me into a treatment center when I was 17 and at my lowest. I wish the best for you & your daughter.

@katieb: I could have used that rule, AND HOW.

@ItchykooParker: awesome story. so glad your daughter's feeling better and that you were able to find a good counselor.

Not to mention the kids whose depression is not brought on by, but worsened by the pressures of high school.

I was 7 when I had my first battles with depression and suicide. I'm now 22 and still struggling with it. HIgh school didn't present me with anything new, it just intensified everything.

Is it any wonder? Puberty, self-image problems, weight fluctuations, academic pressure, social pressure, unreasonable expectations from peers/family... that the number is that low is astounding.

@AnnaXC09: Something very similar happened to me, except it was my sophomore year and my family was a LOT dysfunctional. I felt miserable and empty and completely unable to articulate that, shut everyone out, was doing horribly in school, and fought constantly with my parents. I was seriously considering running away. Reading over my comment now, it all sounds very angsty and teenagery, but depression is a serious problem. I definitely think it's tied to all the changes going on in adolescence, so I would imagine it happens to a great many more teens than surveys like this account for.

Thank you for posting this, Jessica.

Every day I find myself wishing that my depression had been treated sooner -- it started when I was a freshman in high school. My parents don't really believe in therapy and definitely don't believe in antidepressants (as in, believe they don't work/cause more harm than good, not that they don't exist). Long story short, my dad put his foot down about my potential antidepressant prescription and I don't remember any of high school or college because I spent those years mired in untreated atypical depression. Thank god Wellbutrin came into my life eventually.

I definitely feel for any gal (or guy) who was "in a bad mood" for months or slept for 14 hours a day or wrote shitty poetry.

I don't know any teens right now, so I feel pretty impotent about the whole thing. Is there a program or charity that reaches out specifically to kids with mood disorders?

@Khrushchev: srsly! I would be much better prepared to kick high school's ass nowadays.