By MARYANN SILVA

The Mirror reporter

One out of eight teens has depression.

The word ‘depression’ has different meanings in different situations. It is normal to feel stressed out when students have a lot on their plate, but feeling a bit low when they’ve have experienced a setback is different.

It is also normal to feel a bit nervous or anxious about challenges such as exams or presentations. These are signs that the body’s natural stress response is functioning normally. It can be difficult to identify depression because it isn’t a separate state of existence, totally different from the everyday ups and downs of life. Everyone has times in their life when things are hard, and when they don’t feel at their best.

The general student does not feel the same symptoms as everyone else. Eight in ten students asked about how they feel about academic expectations they all said “Stressed” which was, in a way, expected.

Bella Tompkins said, “It is reasonable to expect certain things, but at some point, it gets to be a little much. When school work is not measurable within classes, it is a lot at one time.”

School can trigger “a lot of pressure and put stress on students regarding what types of class they should take and what they need to graduate. Yet, the pressure is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes pressure helps a student achieve that greatness within themselves. The greatness that they have inside sometimes needs a little help getting out,” counselor Kristen Jensen said.

There are multiple reasons why a teen might become depressed. For example, teens can develop feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy over their grades. School performance, social status with peers, sexual orientation, or family life can each have a major effect on how a teen feels.

Sometimes, teen depression may result from environmental stress. Whatever the cause, when friends or family or things that the teen usually enjoy don’t help to improve his or her sadness or sense of isolation, there’s a good chance that he or she has teen depression.

There are ways that students can get help or get help finding that path in getting help.

Jensen said, “a counselor is a great resource. Friends can be helpful but students, a lot of times, compare themselves to their friends. They tend to put on a good show. You need those friends who you can be yourself with. Comparing yourself to someone else can create even more stress than you already have.”

Tompkins also said, “The way that teachers can help with the stress is to try to understand where we are coming from. We have to be able to take care of ourselves first to be able to learn.”