SLIDE 1: Hello everyone.

First off I wanted to say that this is a trigger warning

and that if anyone feels overwhelmed at any time please don’t feel bad to leave the
room to take a minute before returning.

I am handing out papers that I would appreciate if you all would fill out throughout
the Ted Talks and my Powerpoint. Because this is a lot of information to try to
remember and please try to pay attention as well.

To start off I think that I should explain to you guys my senior project and then
later I will get into why I choose to do this senior project. My senior project deals
mainly with Depression and spreading more awareness for it but also to provide a
way out of Depression and that is through Serving others. Some of you have seen
that I am doing like the school worship nights and girl sleepovers that is more to
help the spiritual climate of the school and to have the spiritual aspect of getting
out or when dealing with Depression.

SLIDE 2: Okay this Ted Talk is by Sarah Liberti and she explains Depression in
Social Media today.

SLIDE 3: So What is Depression? The definition is a feeling of sadness or

emptiness that doesn’t go away within a few weeks. But Depression is not. oh well
I just got a bad test grade i’m “Depressed” now. I do think that doing poorly in
school can affect how you feel greatly but it is being smart when you say it and
realizing that Depression is more than a moment of sadness and should not be a
word that is used so lightly.

SLIDE 4: For my project I needed to do some research because I was going to

need more knowledge than just my own personal experience. So I set out to watch
10 Ted Talks and along with other hours of research and what I found was when
people spoke on Depression there is often 2 different sides. One being more of just
thinking it is completely a mental disorder so far left or Christians who think that it
is a mental disorder but it is more spiritual so far right. I have come to the
conclusion that while not any case of Depression seems to be the same and for
some people it is more on the mental side and you need to go to the doctors to get
medicine for your illness as well for others it is more spiritual and they are being
attacked from Satan… I like to see it more in the middle because why not take both
into account and not only treat each case by what the individual person needs but
also seeing that God is there to help them through that as well.

SLIDE 5: So now that we know what the baseline of Depression is, it is now time
to get a little bit more complicated and to look at the different types of depression
someone can experience.

SLIDE 6: MAJOR DEPRESSION: It is a Single bout or having recurring

episodes of depression. *The number of patients diagnosed with depression
increases by approximately 20% Per Year*

MY STORY: This is what I personally struggled with and I don’t think that it came
from one specific incident or not but I think it was just a lot of different
circumstances put together. But I think of my depression as seasons (SLIDE 7)
Season 1 I saw myself getting upset more than I usually did and I was just
confused on what was going on and then I moved into just having an overload of
pain and Angry I got very upset at myself for not being able to fix it and just be
better...but I was so confused I didn’t even know how to even beginning if I didn’t
even know what was happening to me. Then I moved into more of a numbing I still
felt the pain but I more accepted it ...and then I just kind of felt swallowed by it and
I didn’t really think or see much. It was like a whole fog over my life. And That's
when I hit the point of not wanting to be here anymore because it felt like well who
would care anyways….I spent most of my time around people thinking that well
would they even care if I was gone or would it even affect them at all? But when I
look back I think that in Season 2 is when I was more likely to get help I was just
scared to but it's what anyone needs to do they need to talk to someone and get
help before they start to believe to many lies to stop them from getting help.

SLIDE 8: PERSISTENT DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: This is when depression

lasts 2 years or more. *Depression is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for
ages 15 to 44.*

SLIDE 9: BIPOLAR DISORDER OR MANIC DEPRESSION: This is a less

common type of depression that involves cycles of depression alternating with
extreme highs (or manias). You can see through this chart just exactly what this
definition means from someone being super happy to being very very sad and at
the same level of someone dealing with depression and being at their lowest.

SLIDE 10: POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION: This is one of the types of

depression that I myself did not know about but I think that it is very important to
know especially for women but it is so common. But Postpartum Depression
occurs when the “Baby Blues”- which happens after you have a baby due to the
lack of sleep and hormonal changes following a childbirth, but this usually lasts a
week or 2. But Postpartum Depression is when the Baby blues seems to drag on
longer and escalates. And *1 in 7 women will develop the postpartum depression.*
I think that this is important to know because for women if you have a child to
know that it is normal to have the Baby Blues and to know to get help if it last
longer than the usual 2 weeks. And for Men to know because if you plan to have a
wife someday and have a child together you need to know this happens and to look
out for Postpartum Depression in your wife.

SLIDE 11: SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER (SAD): Specific

circumstances can trigger other forms of depression like seasonal affective. This is
when your mood is affected by the sunlight. It is more common to happen in
winter when there is less sun. But there is also a summer sadness. For people that
suffer with it in the winter, suffer from often feeling sluggish, sleep more than
usual and tend to overeat and gain weight. But summertime depression often brings
lack of sleep, loss of appetite, weight loss and feelings of anxiety. *Summertime
SAD can also create an increased feeling of isolation.*
Know I asked Abby to speak about her personal experience with this. *Abby
speaks*

SLIDE 12: SYMPTOMS: So now I wanted to talk about the symptoms that you
may see in someone that is depressed. They tend to be extremely irritable over
minor things. They can oftentimes struggle with Anxiety and restlessness as well.
They have a hard time managing Anger and letting it take over them at times. They
lose interest in their favorite activities because they tend to just want to lay around.
Which this can be a big indicator if your friend starts to never want to hang out or
not want to do the activities that they used to do all the time. They often can have a
fixation on the past or on things that have gone wrong. For example maybe if they
break something that could upset them a lot more than it should because in their
mind they just always screw up and can’t do anything right. Another symptom also
includes thoughts of death or suicide.

SLIDE 13: PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS: These are things that you are more likely
to tell about someone with Depression. Insomnia or sleeping too much. They can
also have an increase or decrease in their appetite. You can usually tell that they
can gain weight or go through weight loss. As you can see someone can either go
one way or the other. They can gain something or loss something like sleep. People
struggling with depression can also have a difficult time concentrating or making
decisions. And they can have unexplained aches and pains.

SLIDE 14: SYMPTOMS: The statistics below are from a survey of teens that has
at least 1 major depressive episode in the previous 12 months. As you can see that
there were 17.3% of Females and there were 5.7% Males. Though I wouldn’t take
this statistic as 100% true because though females are more likely and do struggle
with depression more than males. It has also been shown that men are very
unlikely to go and get help about their depression or be open about it. This is also
what Mrs. Moyer will now talk to you about.
*Mrs. Moyer talks*

SLIDE 15: Ted Talk: We are now going to watch another and final Ted Talk by
Dianna Paige. Now this Ted Talk I don’t agree with every single thing she says but
it is still a very good video despite the quality but I hope it will challenge the way
you think about depression 12:29

SLIDE 16: What Can I Do If I Am Depressed?: Some of you might struggle

with Depression yourself or might in the future at some point and you might be
asking. What do I do if I am Depressed? How can I get out of this? This has taken
me a lot of time to find an answer to those questions and this is what I would
say….

Even though this might seem like the worst thing to ever happen to you and you
might be so deep that it seems as though you will never change. But you just need
to take it by baby steps because if you try to change yourself all at once it might
not work and then you could just end up discouraging yourself even more.

The main part of depression as said before is being self focused and so I would
encourage you to take steps each day to help get your mind off of yourself and
your problems which I have found to be a big help. Don’t get me wrong your
problems are very important but to help yourself to change your point of view a
great way to do so is to help someone that needs help.

The last thing is you have to choose it for yourself...I can stand up here and tell you
things to help you and try to help you all I can but until you choose it yourself you
will get nowhere. That's why I think serving others helps to break a barrier that
could be stopping you from even thinking to choose to change because even
though it is miserable it can become comfortable and a controlled routine that you
want to stay in.
But though that was my last points I would encourage you if you are struggling
with this to ask a teacher about it or if you have any questions or want to know a
few more ways that I have read or found helpful myself I would be more than
happy to talk with any of you about it.
SLIDE 17: How Can I Help Someone?: With my project I had the privilege of
contacting a local councilor that started his own business and is just very smart in
my topic area and well qualified his name is Peter Montminy. When I asked him
what could someone do if they have a friend or loved one struggling with
depression he said the following. To be present in the conversation with the person.
Show them that you are really truly listening to them. Don’t be on your phone just
really listen to what they are saying to you. He said to try to encourage them but
don’t try to talk them out of depression. They don’t want someone yelling at them
and acting weird they just need someone to listen to them really. But there is one
exception to this but I will talk about that in a moment. Try to be as normal as
possible don’t overly try to hang out with them but don’t just shut them out. If you
have been around them for a long time just hang out the same amount or if you
never have maybe have a get together and go and see a movie with them and a
group of people...Do you guys understand what I mean when I say try acting
normal?
Okay now there one exception and I think Peter Montminy said it the best way
when he said to me.
“If they are talking about killing themselves you must tell someone but if they say
no you can’t…. I trusted you, you must say I am honored that you trust me with
what you said… but I love you that much that I don't want to see you dead
tomorrow.”
But guys this is a very serious topic and it deals with people's lives. I just want you
guys to be smart and not to think that you know all the answers cause I know I can
be like that and it can be hard to get a teacher involved sometimes but in these
cases I would say it is CRUCIAL that you do. Or maybe first talk to a teacher
about it and ask if they think that it has gotten to the point where adults need to be
involved or not. It never hurts to just ask someone!!!

SLIDE 18: Encouragement Activity: Okay now we are going to do an

encouragement activity that is an activity that we usually do twice a year in chapel
and that is the Encouraging sticky note chapel. Where I will be giving you each a
stack of sticky notes and you will go around and write something encouraging to
someone and stick it on there back. They must be serious encouragements though
this isn’t a time to put a joke on a sticky note so just please be real and maybe ask
God who he wants you to encourage. Also you don’t have to put your name on the
sticky note I mean you can if you really really want to but we usually don’t. Also I
am giving you plenty of time so please take your time to write something nice and
step out of your friend group.