Depression and Low Mood...Causes/Solution

                      Childhood and life before depression

For many young people, their first memories of low moods dated back to their early childhood and some couldn’t remember a time that they hadn’t felt low or depressed. Many also recounted happy memories of childhood and described how things
had started to go wrong later on. Here young people talk about their childhood memories. We also have separate sections where young people talk more about the related experiences of being bullied (‘Bullying and depression’), going to school (‘School and studying’) and their first experiences of depression (‘First experiences of depression’).
Happy memories
Many people talked about having had “a lovely childhood” and having everything they could wish for. A few described themselves as having been “a perfect child”, "the smart one in the family”, “top of the class” or as one young man put it “I always excelled in everything, be it Maths, Science, Sports”. For some, this contributed to a sense of pressure and a fear of “letting everyone down”.

Feeling different
Many people said they had instinctively felt different all their lives. They described feeling cut off from the world and “isolated in my sadness”. For some, this meant a painful level of awareness of other people’s behaviour, being extra conscious of social relationships and the need to fit in. Others didn’t feel comfortable in themselves, “confused” about who they were and created imaginary identities for themselves.
 

For some, the feelings of being different were caused by a physical illness or a disability which they felt made them stand out. They felt like the only one in the school who was in a wheelchair, had epilepsy or who’d experienced early hair loss, for example.

Several people struggled to make friends or perhaps had just only one friend in school. One woman described her sense of difference as a “heightened awareness” of how she didn’t fit in with everyone else and how much hard work making friends was for her. Another one said she really wanted to join in play but felt so withdrawn and lacking in confidence to be able to' "I always just stood and watched on from the side”.

People said they had become so used to feeling different and out of place that after years it became “normal” for them.

 

Unsettled home life

Unsettled home life in childhood and teens was common. Many had experienced their parents divorcing or splitting up, parents having arguments and fights or experienced domestic violence. For some whose parents had divorced the messy custody battles inside and outside of court had been a hugely upsetting experience.

For some, the troubles at home had gotten so bad that they’d either ran away or been “kicked out”. They’d stayed with friends for a while, or ended up in homeless accommodation.

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