Depression or Low Mood

What is depression?

Everyone has ups and downs. Sometimes you might feel a bit down, for lots of different reasons.

If you notice that you are feeling down more often than you feel okay, you might have depression. It can make it hard to do everyday things, enjoy the things you do, and sometimes even to get out of bed.

Sometimes people who are depressed talk about feeling hopeless or not being able to feel anything at all. A lot of people say they feel tired all the time and think bad things about themselves.

Depression can affect anyone, of any age, including children It is one of the most common mental health problems. People over the age of 60 are slightly more likely to become depressed (WHO, 2023).

If you’ve been feeling like this for a while, or it has been affecting your life in a serious way, you should visit your doctor. You could ask a friend, parent or carer to go with you. Your doctor will be able to find out if you have depression and talk you through the types of support that could help you. You can use the support links in the Get Help section. If you are having thoughts that life is not worth living, or that you don’t want to be alive, please read our suicidal thoughts page.

Take a look at these videos for further information. The first is from the BBC, and the second is from the World Health Organisation. Both are about living with depression.