Teenage Depression....hopeless and clueless.

Hi Bridge,

I'm glad you found us here at HW. That must be so hard to not have your mother's support right now. I'm curious to know how you were diagnosed with depression and am surprised your doctor did not refer you to a counselor or nurse practitioner to follow up with you on treating your depression. Is there a counselor you can talk with at school? Many colleges have counseling programs for students and are very good at helping you meet your academic goals. You can ask them about their confidentiality policy if you are concerned about that. My university's policy is that parents cannot access student files unless the student signs a document stating that they can. Some options a counselor may be suggest may be continuing with regular psychological therapy sessions and/or anti-depressant medication. Check back and let us know what you find out, OK?

NW

Hey Bridge,
I know exactly how you feel. My senior yr of HS/fr year of college was when I really started feeling depressed. Its a hard time in everyones life and everyone deals with it differently.
Heres what I did: 3 weeks into 1st year of college I met a wonderful woman at my school who happened to be a counselor in the counseling center. Luckily, we hit it off right away and to this day I am incredibly close with her still. I didn't tell my parents I was going to see her and my mom and I have never had a close open relationship. I love her, but its just not the nature of our relationship to talk about things like that.
When I was ready to go to outside therapy I had no choice but to tell my mom b/c of insurance. I was scared, but it turned out ok. We never talked about it and she never mentioned it, but she understood that I was just getting help and doing fine.

My parents, whenever they think of "depression" they think suicide. Not the case. I think thats why they freaked out a little. But in time, things got better. I felt better about myself, starting dating my boyfriend and did extremely well in school. For a while I wasn't doing too well, but with the guidance and support of my school counselor that I still regularly saw, I got through it. You'll be surprisd how many people care about you and are here to support you.

Your mom just needs to understand that you just want to help yourself. You want to feel happier and better about life so you can bring up your grades and enjoy each and every day. Reassure here that therapy is completely worth it. Look how many people are on these boards that support one another every single day!! If you feel you need to vent, just come on here. Everyone here has experience. Best of luck.