No, I did not write this because it's Spirit Day.

Today, there are many things that affect people in negative ways. While it is able to affect anyone, the focus of this blog will mainly be on teens, for that is what I am.
At the high school level, have any of you stopped and thought about how many smiling people were dying on the inside and out?

Depression affects almost every teenager at some point or another, it seems. While not all are "serious," a good portion are. Clinical depression affects over 17 million Americans each year; nearly 12 million women and over 6 million men. Clinical depression is quite common, but also usually unrecognized and untreated. Without treatment or help, those with this type of depression cannot get better. Clinical depression is not something you can just will away. It is also not a sign of weakness, like most seem to believe.
Clinical depression comes in different forms: Major depression, Dysthymia, and Bipolar Disorder. Major depression is a combination of symptoms [listed below] that interfere with your  life- your ability to work, eat, sleep, and have fun. Dysthymia is a less severe version of major depression, with a longer period of less severe symptoms that do not keep you from functioning. Bipolar Disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is alternate periods of depression and elation. Sometimes, these periods may be rapid, but other times, they're gradual. (I guess it just depends on the person.) You can go for a very long time not knowing that you have any of these, mainly because when people have these kinds of depression, they think it isn't serious and don't want to make a big deal out of it or burden their friends with their problems. Or, the person may not want help and/or think they are unable to be helped. This is not true, and everyone who suspects they may have clinical depression need to seek help.
Below are a list of symptoms, taken from the UHS Tang Center website.

Physical:

• Sleep disturbances-insomnia, oversleeping, waking much earlier than usual
• Changes in appetite or eating: much more or much less
• Decreased energy, fatigue
• Headaches, stomachaches, digestive problems or other physical symptoms that are not explained by other physical conditions or do not respond to treatment

Behavioral/Attitude:

• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, such as going out with friends, hobbies, sports, sex, etc.
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Neglecting responsibilities or personal appearance

Emotional:

• Persistent sad or "empty" mood, lasting two or more weeks
• Crying "for no reason"
• Feeling hopeless, helpless, guilty or worthless
• Feeling irritable, agitated or anxious
• Thoughts of death or suicide

There are many, many other things that affect teens. I was also going to cover eating disorders, but I don't want to overload this blog, so maybe I'll do that next time.

 I certainly suggest that if you exhibit a good amount of the symptoms listed above, to talk to your doctor about it.

Remember, someone out there loves you and you can get better. :)

Another Way To Die

I've been wanting to do a blog about something like this, but Laney beat me to it a while back. D:

Recently, Disturbed came out with a new album called Asylum. On this album is a song called Another Way To Die, which reminds me a lot of the video we watched in English. I highly suggest you watch the music video for this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwELajFteTo&feature=channel
This music video has clips of today's world and the dramatic world of tomorrow. Obviously, the dramatic "world of tomorrow" won't happen within a lifetime like it does in the video, but it could happen one day, and that's something we need to be concerned about. Even those who don't care about the Earth and say it's a later generation's problem would (or at least should) be affected by either of these videos. To me, it was really a wake-up call. I'd known that we were destroying the planet and that not many people recycled as much as they should, but the amount of destruction done is mind blowing. Even those who do recycle aren't able to help as much as they'd like. In today's plastic world, there is barely a thing made that doesn't have plastic, and most all of those objects are just tossed into the trash, which then goes to a landfill, to sit there, collecting. Truly, the only way to help is to cut back on plastic, to change our way of life, but how many are truly willing to do that?


Another Way To Die

The indulgence of our lives
has cast a shadow on our world
Our devotion to our appetites
betrayed us all

An apocalyptic plight
More destruction will unfold
Mother Earth will show her darker side
and take her toll

It's just another way to die

There can be no other reason why
You know we should of seen it coming
Consequences we cannot deny will be
revealed in time
Glaciers melt as we pollute the sky
A sign of devastation coming
We don't need another way to die
Can we repent in time?

The time bomb is ticking
and no one is listening
Our future is fading
Is there any hope we'll survive?

Still, we ravage the world that we love
And the millions cry out to be saved
Our endless maniacal appetite
Left us with another way to die

It's just another way to die
Can we repent in time?

Greed and hunger led to our demise
A path I can't believe we followed
Black agenda's rooted in a lie
Will we repent in time?

Species fall before our very eyes
A world that they cannot survive in
left them with another way to die
Are we dead inside?

The time bomb is ticking
and no one is listening
Our future is fading
Is there any hope we'll survive?

Still, we ravage the world that we love
And the millions cry out to be saved
Our endless maniacal appetite
Left us with another way to die

It's just another way to die

Still, we ravage the world we love
And the millions cry out to be saved
Our endless maniacal appetite
Left us with another way to die

It's just another way to die
Can we repent in time?

It's just another way to die
Can we repent in time?

Vid

In English, we watched a video about a man who served in the war in Iraq. The video told about the struggles he suffered after the war due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Before the war, he led a happy life with a girl he had known his whole life and planned to marry after he got back. When he got back, they married, but they divorced not too long after. War had messed him up too much for him to have a normal relationship and deal with it's problems. It's sad that his life had changed so much that he couldn't even be with the woman he loved.

War had also made him suicidal. While in Iraq, he had nearly shot himself. He had the gun in his when the camp's doctor passed by and yelled at him. That was the thing that saved him. When he got home, he was still suicidal. The photographer that was with him sensed this and took him to a clinic. He didn't stay in the program he was put in for very long, so it probably wasn't much help. After the clinic and the divorce, he made new friends who hadn't known him before the war, who didn't see the change in him. Those friends made him feel almost like he was in the military again from the group's codes and closeness, and it made him feel at home.