I think we can all agree that being a teenager in itself is not an easy thing to go through. Between friends, hormones, and changes in both yourself and in other people, you may feel sad, unwanted, unworthy, useless, all of the above or so much more. Depression and other mental health problems are common for teenagers to go through.
As you get older, you may begin to stop focusing on your family and begin surrounding yourself more with friends. This in itself does cause more stress all in all. You are bound to have encountered what they call a “fake friend” at one point or another. These are people that may be silently toxic to you and your life. There are some things you can do to prevent people like these to wiggle their way into your life, but sometimes, you just can’t help it and oftentimes, you may not even notice what is being done until they have already taken your heart, dropped it on the ground, and then proceeded to step on it a few times. The best thing you can do to try to eliminate or ward off some of these people would be to stick around those who you genuinely trust would be there for you when times get tough. However, actions do speak louder than words, and when someone says they would do something, it may not mean much of anything, depending on the person and the circumstances.
Another large factor of all the stress is school. Getting into the higher grades means more responsibilities, whether it's school work itself or life at home, it may seem overwhelming, especially if everything is happening at the same time and there isn't much breathing room. As we get older, usually grades start becoming more and more important. This stresses out teens and if they don't get something, they may feel stupid or dumb and look down on themselves even more than they may have originally.
One of the biggest reasons for stress in teens has to do with the hormones that are taking over their bodies at this age. Mood swings are caused by the fluctuating hormones in your body and these make everything much harder than the life of a teen already is. When it comes to hormones there isn't much you can do besides trying to maintain good physical and mental health. This may include eating enough protein, exercise regularly, avoiding large amounts of sugar or fat, and drinking Green Tea or other healthy calming and detoxifying drinks.
If you suffer from intense mood swings or symptoms of depression or other mental problems, it may feel like a constant lagging on everything you do. It is generally always there, somewhere in the back of your mind and it is hard to get rid of. Depending on the person, it may have a pattern and it may not. Symptoms may include hopelessness, racing thoughts, thoughts or attempts of suicide or self-harm, drug abuse, eating too much or too little, depression or extreme sadness for no reason, mental numbness or the feeling of nothingness, anxiousness, loss of interest in activities or things you used to love or enjoy, the feeling of being worthless or not important, and so much more.
It is important that when you feel down you do not dwell on the situation, because that will only make everything worse. I would highly recommend trying to escape through music, writing, reading, hanging out with friends, or going out and doing something. Anything is better than nothing, however different things work for different people. Some people recommend exercise to those struggling mentally, but not all techniques will work the same for everyone. As much as you will want to sit in your dark room on your unmade bed eating ice cream in your pajamas all day, that isn't the best option for you and your sanity.
It is hard to tell the difference between teen depression, and clinical disorders during teenage years, and quite honestly, the only way to tell is if the child suffering doesn't grow out of it towards the end of teenage years or shortly after. However, clinical or not, if it is severely affecting your life you need to do something about it. Whether it's getting exercise, breaking habits bad for your health, eating a better diet, getting professional help or so much more. Whatever you do, it is very important that you do something to make you, or someone you know who is suffering, feel better and maybe even become genuinely happy.