Depression is a mental health issue that affects many people in all age groups. Nobody sums it up better than a student counselor.

“It’s very very very common in all walks of life, all age groups, and you know even personally,” Counselling department chair Brenda Lohr said.

Depression is a thing everyone will have dealt with by this time either themselves, a friend, or someone connected to a friend.

While depression is not easy to see there are signs to look for. Emotional changes can include increased feelings of sadness, frustration or anger, feeling hopeless, more irritable or annoyed, loss of interest.

Physical changes can be tiredness or loss of energy, not sleeping enough or too much, decreased or increased appetite, agitation or restlessness, social isolation, and in general acting out like grades slipping, missing school, not as personally hygienic, angry outbursts, and self harm.

Some causes may be inherited, early childhood trauma, brain chemistry, hormones, or patterns of negative thinking.

One other major factor is stress, such as body image issues, bad school performance, having mental illness, learning disability, or being the victim or witness of physical violence or bullying.

One thing that does not help is it is harder to get away from stress factors because of cell phones. We always have them on us and they can be a connection to certain things that stress us out.

Something to help deal with and maybe prevent depression are talking to someone you trust or somebody willing to listen. Walk away from unnecessarily stressful situations, or create a safe space for you to vent.