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Fight or Flight is your body's response to a threat. It'll pumped a chemical known as adrenaline into your body to keep you high alert and active.

Fight is to go up and handle the threat, Flight is to runaway from the threat.

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What happened to the body during fight or flight?

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What happened to the body during fight or flight?

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The body will be put into a sense of high alert. Your heart will pump faster as preparing to act in either it's to fight or run. Your pain will also be les impactful so you can focus on getting out the situation. You'll feel the normal pain after you calm down.

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What two body systems are impacted during this?

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What two body systems are impacted during this?

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The Cardiovascular System- This system deal with your heart and veins. Blood will be pumped more throughout the body to prepare it for your response to the threat. It moves more oxygen to the muscles.

The Nervous System- Under pressure your brain can stall, for example your memories being messed with. You memories can be as clear as day or blurry to fully blackout.

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Difference between Modern and Caveman fight or flight

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Difference between Modern and Caveman fight or flight

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Caveman had less knowledge of protection, so they got into more dangerous fights with animals or mother nature disasters. However today human live in building and places that keep the away from most dangerous animals and natural disasters. Humans today more stress over weapon violence or another economic crisis. Both have different reasons to go into fight or flight, so they have different responses.

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Good Stress is from situations you have some control over and purposely enter. Examples are like riding a roller coaster, or entering a talent show. These are situations you feel happy and excited to be in.

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Bad Stress is harmful stress by unwanted situations. Example can being taking a test you didn't study for, or overplanning that you're constantly working. Your body need times to relax. Stress isn't completely avoidable, but we can minimalize it by managing our time and emotions. However if this is not done, stress can lead to multiple problems like sleep problems and weight control problems.

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Stress can weigh you body down by things like headache and stomach pain to fatigue and sickness. Stress can eve give diseases like Diabetes (Type 2), heart disease, and higher chance of a stroke.

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When under stress mental you can become unfocused or have a sense of anxiety. Being unfocused can cause memory issues and lack of motivation. These mental effects can slow you down from doing daily tasks.

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Stress on your emotional health can lead you to be more prone to anger and sadness. Sadness can lead to depression and anger can lead to outbursts. These can give you an overwhelming sense and increases anxiety.

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As stress overwhelms you in emotion, that emotions can effect your social life. You can find yourself being more distant with those you are close too. Including lack of motivation for social gatherings or interactions.

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Some signs are lack of interest in favorited hobbies, more prone to anger, feelings of hopelessness, and massive weight changes. Depression could also be identified by hormonal imbalances it's best to check with a doctor.

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Teens are severely impacted by depression, especially since they are in a more emotional state in this time of their life. This could impact their education which impacts their career/future. Some teen depression can be subtle or last little, but others can be long term and damaging.

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Sign can be thoughts about death, helplessness or being a burden. Additionally that added feeling of guilt or shame or overwhelming with emotion like sadness and anger.

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Call or Text 988 or go to https://988lifeline.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=onebox

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Talk to a professional doctor or therapist.

Don't stay quiet

Seek help from parents or trusted adults

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Some things that stress me is paying for my school lunch. Mother used to pay on the app, but sine the internet went she couldn't access the app. However I gathered money myself and paying it little by little in person.

Another thing would be my up coming AP test. However my teachers and parents made me see it like I was doing good. Even though I have a B, it was pretty good for a collage level class.

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I do have some minor anger issues and doze off quite often, but so far I've been doing fine. I don't feel myself experiencing stress as I've grown used things that normally would. I do feel stress I normally turn to music.

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My Favorite thing to do overall is Writing. It can be as simple as writing a short story, or writing a whole gameplay.

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My favorite book would be The Call, however I'm currently reading on of my favorite series known as Tales from the Pizzaplex.

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It would be Smile. I love horror movies and Smile is the one i love the most.

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My 'Go-To' person would be my mother. During rough times in the past, she wouldn't judge me if I asked for help. A lot of people like judge when you mess up. Even though my mother doesn't judge, it doesn't mean she doesn't hold me accountable.

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Sleeping allows the brain to just reset. The brain can heal things in the body and develop without interruption. This helps with memory, movement, and processing emotions. For this to happen you must get 7 hours of sleep for the brain to have time to do this.

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A healthy diet gives your body the support and nutrition for your body to work. It helps keep you active, live longer, and strengthens your immunity system. The immunity system is better able to fight of diseases.

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Good Exercise can lead to better heart health, better body movement, and improving your mental health. You heart health would improve by increasing you blood flow. You'll also have better control of your body and prevent less falls as you have more balance. Exercise can also give you the confidence of yourself, and the activity releases chemicals that keep you in a good mood.

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Being stress free can help you avoid sickness, massive weight change, headaches, sleep problems, and not being able to focus. Stress can lead to your immune system weaking, making you ore prone to sickness. To avoid this you can mange your schedule by planning ahead, take the time to relax, and prepare yourself before going in a stressful situation.

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By avoid taking drugs, you also avoid the risk of the liver and heart failure. Drugs and Alcohol can take a massive effect on your physical and mental health. Avoid drugs and alcohol helps make sure you're body is still healthy.

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Healthy weight control can prevent you from things like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Ways to do this is getting on a healthy diet, managing your weight, and checking in with your doctor.

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Safe Sex is important to follow as it help prevent sexually transmitted disease (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. Its recommended to get tested and use condoms or other safe sex items.

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It is better to practice Safe Sex to avoid these STDs

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Your skin is your largest organ

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Dust is mostly dead human body cells

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Neurology Department | U of U School of Medicine

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Department Contributor: Kathleen Digre, MD

This study's researchers, including the University of Utah Department of Neurology's Kathleen Digre, MD, were also concerned that short sleep duration may be a factor that contributes to racial/ethnic health disparities. After all, it is well documented that Black/African Americans are nearly twice as likely to have shorter sleep durations than Hispanics/Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites; in the same vein, Hispanics/Latinos have higher rates of short sleep when compared to non-Hispanic Whites. However, to date, few studies have examined community perceptions and needs for sleep interventions, and this scarcity is a major limiting factor to the development of sleep interventions among communities of color-a gap that this study sought to fill. To reach this goal, these researchers completed a randomized trial of a one-year community-based wellness intervention that enrolled a multi-ethnic sample. The "wellness intervention" included working with community members to identify needs and then designing and implementing interventions collaboratively.

It is a common belief that while consistently undersleeping isn't optimal, it's not a big deal in the long term. The Sleep Foundation lists the most common causes of short sleep duration as poor sleep hygiene (e.g., deciding to stay up late to binge-watch a TV series or interacting with electronic devices), lifestyle choices (e.g., staying out late with friends), work obligations (multiple jobs or shift work), sleep disorders (e.g., insomnia), and other medical conditions (e.g., migraine or sleep apnea). Any one of these factors can result in the loss of an hour or two of shut-eye.

However, the belief that 5-7 hours of sleep is sufficient has been increasingly disproved in the past ten years; several studies have found that sleep deficiency can lead to serious outcomes such as obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and neurodegenerative disorders. Depression symptoms and low stress management are also associated with short sleep duration.

Sleep is essential to the functioning and health of the brain. There's a lot that goes on while we're dreaming-more than just resting the body (though that is also important!). Sleep allows a number of processes to run and develop, and without them, our brains start to go a little haywire.

1. Restoration and repair: Sleep provides an opportunity for the brain to restore and repair itself. During sleep, the brain clears out waste products and toxins that accumulate throughout the day. This process is performed by the glymphatic system.

2. Memory consolidation: Sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation, which is the process of strengthening and integrating newly acquired information into long-term memory. Different stages of sleep, particularly rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep (SWS), are associated with different aspects of memory consolidation.

3. Cognitive performance: A good night's sleep enhances cognitive abilities, creativity, and overall mental performance. Sleep deprivation or insufficient sleep can lead to a decreased attention span, impaired concentration, reduced decision-making abilities, and difficulties with learning and problem-solving.

4. Brain development: Sleep is one of the primary activities of the brain during early development and plays an important role in healthy cognitive and psychosocial development in early life. This study found differences in brain function, behavior, and mental health between children who get nine hours of sleep at night and children who get less.

5. Emotional regulation: Sufficient sleep also helps regulate emotions, while sleep deprivation can lead to increased emotional reactivity, mood swings, irritability, and heightened stress responses. Sleep disturbances are also associated with a higher risk of developing mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

Your commitment to sleep affects your brain health throughout your life! So the next time you're tempted to stay awake past your bedtime, turn off the light and take care of your mind instead.

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Why At Least 7 Hours of Sleep Is Essential for Brain Health

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Nine important benefits of healthy eating for adults

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We have all heard it many times before - regular exercise is good for you, and it can help you lose weight. But if you are like many Americans, you are busy, you have a sedentary job, and you haven't yet changed your exercise habits. The good news is that it's never too late to start. You can start slowly, and find ways to fit more physical activity into your life. To get the most benefit, you should try to get the recommended amount of exercise for your age. If you can do it, the payoff is that you will feel better, help prevent or control many diseases, and likely even live longer.

What are the health benefits of exercise?

Regular exercise and physical activity may:

Help you control your weight. Along with diet, exercise plays an important role in controlling your weight and preventing obesity. To maintain your weight, the calories you eat and drink must equal the energy you burn. To lose weight, you must use more calories than you eat and drink.

Reduce your risk of heart diseases. Exercise strengthens your heart and improves your circulation. The increased blood flow raises the oxygen levels in your body. This helps lower your risk of heart diseases such as high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, and heart attack. Regular exercise can also lower your blood pressure and triglyceride levels.

Help your body manage blood sugar and insulin levels. Exercise can lower your blood sugar level and help your insulin work better. This can cut down your risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. And if you already have one of those diseases, exercise can help you to manage it.

Help you quit smoking. Exercise may make it easier to quit smoking by reducing your cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It can also help limit the weight you might gain when you stop smoking.

Improve your mental health and mood. During exercise, your body releases chemicals that can improve your mood and make you feel more relaxed. This can help you deal with stress and reduce your risk of depression.

Help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. Exercise stimulates your body to release proteins and other chemicals that improve the structure and function of your brain.

Strengthen your bones and muscles. Regular exercise can help kids and teens build strong bones. Later in life, it can also slow the loss of bone density that comes with age. Doing muscle-strengthening activities can help you increase or maintain your muscle mass and strength.

Reduce your risk of some cancers, including colon, breast , uterine, and lung cancer.

Reduce your risk of falls. For older adults, research shows that doing balance and muscle-strengthening activities in addition to moderate-intensity aerobic activity can help reduce your risk of falling.

Improve your sleep. Exercise can help you to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

Improve your sexual health. Regular exercise may lower the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men. For those who already have ED, exercise may help improve their sexual function. In women, exercise may increase sexual arousal.

Increase your chances of living longer. Studies show that physical activity can reduce your risk of dying early from the leading causes of death, like heart disease and some cancers.

How can I make exercise a part of my regular routine?

Make everyday activities more active. Even small changes can help. You can take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk down the hall to a coworker's office instead of sending an email. Wash the car yourself. Park further away from your destination.

Be active with friends and family. Having a workout partner may make you more likely to enjoy exercise. You can also plan social activities that involve exercise. You might also consider joining an exercise group or class, such as a dance class, hiking club, or volleyball team.

Keep track of your progress. Keeping a log of your activity or using a fitness tracker may help you set goals and stay motivated.

Make exercise more fun. Try listening to music or watching TV while you exercise. Also, mix things up a little bit - if you stick with just one type of exercise, you might get bored. Try doing a combination of activities.

Find activities that you can do even when the weather is bad. You can walk in a mall, climb stairs, or work out in a gym even if the weather stops you from exercising outside.

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Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. Learn about all of the benefits, plus tips on adding exercise to your routine.

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Manage Stress - MyHealthfinder | odphp.health.gov

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Learn how to manage stress and prevent serious health problems like heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression.

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The Benefits of a Sober Life - Samaritan Inns

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Getting sober is a life-changing decision that can significantly positively impact an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional health. When people stop consuming alcohol or drugs, they open themselves to a wide range of benefits that can transform their lives. In this article, we will explore the benefits of sober life in more detail. “The […]

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Aim for a Healthy Weight - MyHealthfinder | odphp.health.gov

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Overweight and obesity put people at risk for serious health conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. If you need to lose weight, do it slowly over time.

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Giving people more choices. Safer sex and condoms - PubMed

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Giving people more choices. Safer sex and condoms

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Source for 'What two body systems are effected during fight or flight' + 'What two system are impacted by this?'

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Source for 'What two body systems are effected during fight or flight' + 'What two system are impacted by this?'

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Someone cut you off on the highway and you had to swerve and narrowly avoided a collision.

While out for a morning run, an angry dog jumps out onto your path and starts growling and barking at you.

In the second before you turned on the lights in your empty house, your coat rack looked like it was a person standing right next to you.

All three of these scenarios can trigger your body's natural fight-or-flight response, which is driven by your sympathetic nervous system. This response is your body's reaction to danger and was designed to help you survive stressful and life-threatening situations.

"The fight-or-flight response, or stress response, is triggered by a release of hormones either prompting us to stay and fight or run away and flee," explains psychologist Carolyn Fisher, PhD. "During the response, all bodily systems are working to keep us alive in what we've perceived as a dangerous situation."

Without you even telling it what to do, your body is assessing what's going on around you and determining how you're most likely to survive the event.

Here's what can happen during the stress response:

Your heart rate and blood pressure increase. This means you're probably breathing more quickly and heavily, which is helping move nutrients and oxygen out to your major muscle groups.

You're pale or have flushed skin. Your blood flow is being redirected so you might experience feeling cool or like your hands and feet are cold and clammy. Your face might also appear flushed as blood and hormones circulate throughout your body. You may also get goosebumps.

Blunt pain response is compromised. If your sympathetic nervous system is triggered by combat or a collision, it's not uncommon to only feel your injuries once you've returned to safety and have had time to calm down. This is one reason that people in car accidents don't typically feel pain from their injuries until afterward.

Dilated pupils. Your pupils will dilate to take in more light so you can see better.

You're on edge. You're more aware and observant, and in response, you're looking and listening for things that could be dangerous. Your senses are heightened and you're keenly aware of what's going on around you.

Memories can be affected. Sometimes during stressful experiences, your memories of the event can be altered. Your memories can be very clear or vivid or they can be blacked out.

You're tense or trembling. Stress hormones are circulating throughout your body, so you might feel tense or twitchy, like your muscles are about to move at any given moment.

Your bladder might be affected. It's not uncommon to lose voluntary control of your bladder or bowels in a truly stressful or dangerous situation.

During the fight-or-flight response, your body is trying to prioritize, so anything it doesn't need for immediate survival is placed on the back burner. This means that digestion, reproductive and growth hormone production, and tissue repair are all temporarily halted. Instead, your body is using all of its energy on the most crucial priorities and functions.

The stress response can be triggered in a single instant, but how quickly you calm down and return to your natural state is going to vary from person to person (and it will depend on what caused it). Typically, it takes 20 to 30 minutes for your body to return to normal and calm down.

Fight or flight is supposed to work for us, not against us, right?

"Our fight-or-flight response was designed to help us through catastrophic circumstances," says Dr. Fisher. "If you think about it from an evolution standpoint, it makes sense because we used to have a lot more life-threatening emergencies."

Back in prehistoric days, danger was all around us and threats were constant. We didn't know where our next meal was coming from, we had to brave the weather and we had to fight predators waiting to pounce. A rustling bush could be a lion or something else trying to kill you (for its own survival!).

And so our ancestors developed the stress response to help us survive.

Fortunately, in today's world, imminent danger isn't lurking around every bend, but that doesn't mean we've lost our ability to trigger the fight-or-flight response. It might happen while you're on an airplane that's experiencing turbulence or when someone jumps out at you from a dark room. And it'll more than likely be triggered if you're in a car accident, being robbed or experiencing something else traumatic.

Where it gets tricky? It's when your body starts triggering the fight-or-flight response during non-threatening situations - like giving a big presentation, trying to make a deadline at work or merely thinking about a phobia, such as spiders or heights. These situations aren't truly dangerous, but they've triggered our stress response and our body is reacting to them as if they were.

"In evolution, the stress response was designed to help us survive, but that's not always how it plays out in today's world," notes Dr. Fisher. "Our fight or flight response can now be activated from psychological or mental stress. For example, some individuals can activate it just thinking about work tomorrow."

Living in a prolonged state of high alert and stress (when there isn't any real reason for it) can be detrimental to your physical and mental health.

Imbalance: Sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

Your autonomic nervous system is a delicate balancing act between your sympathetic nervous system and your parasympathetic nervous system. Both networks involuntarily react to the environment around you.

Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for how your body reacts to danger and is responsible for the fight-or-flight response. While your parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for maintaining homeostasis, which is your body's built-in stability monitor. Think of it like a generator - making sure everything from your body temperature to your water intake is functioning smoothly. Your parasympathetic nervous system makes sure things are balanced. It works to relax you and helps conserve and restore energy.

You need both systems to run properly.

"Think of your sympathetic nervous system and your parasympathetic nervous system like your car's gas and brakes," explains Dr. Fisher. "You need to use both effectively for your car to run properly."

You need your sympathetic nervous system to keep you alive when true danger is detected and you need your parasympathetic nervous system to restore and relax you so your body can run business as usual.

So, if you find that your body is constantly reacting to everyday stress with the fight-or-flight response, it should be a warning sign that your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems aren't working together in harmony.

How to control the fight-or-flight response

"Oftentimes, stressors that aren't life-threatening don't have a clear on or off switch," says Dr. Fisher. "That's where we see some of the detrimental effects of prolonged stress because it's not going away. It's a chronic stress to our immune system."

Work, bills, kids, marriage, finances and health are some of the biggest non-life-threatening stressors. How you interpret these things can affect your body's reaction and can contribute to anxiety disorders.

"Some people are having the fight-or-flight response when they go to work or see that their kid didn't clean up their room," says Dr. Fisher. "It can vary from person to person in terms of the situations that can trigger the stress response, but we're finding that certain conditions or health states can be associated with this imbalance."

Some people who get in a car accident are too afraid to drive again or can't drive past the spot where the accident was because of fear and anxiety. It becomes a generalized fear response to a situation that isn't particularly dangerous anymore. This can also happen with work or strained relationships. The next thing you know, your fight-or-flight response is falsely activated, putting you in a state of chronic stress.

Dr. Fisher says stress management is critical to overall health. It's important to think big picture when you feel yourself starting to get worked up over something that you know isn't a true threat or danger.

The fight-or-flight response is an important reaction that we all have and need, but it's meant for authentic stress and danger. Everyone is going to have it in varying degrees for different reasons, but learning to slow down, be aware and conceptualize what's actually happening can help you regain control.

"You need to get in touch with your individual physical, emotional and behavioral signs of stress," urges Dr. Fisher. "Maybe a migraine means you've had prolonged stress going on, so you need to tune into your body and what's going on before it gets to a crisis point."

If you're at the point where stress is impacting your quality of life, talk to a doctor. Therapy, medication and stress management techniques can help you return to a more balanced state. It's not a quick fix and you'll have to work on it daily, but you should be proactive about stress.

The fight-or-flight response has a clear purpose and function, but it shouldn't be activated over everyday, non-threatening stressors like traffic, emails or bills. And if it is, the goal is to feel skilled at having an awareness when the response is activated, and to be able to bring yourself back to baseline.

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What Happens During Fight-or-Flight Response

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The fight-or-flight response is triggered by a release of hormones either prompting us to stay and fight or run away and flee from a stressful situation. But what happens if this response is prompted over anxiety from non-life-threatening events?

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Stress is a common feeling in humans. Stress is caused by issues you face that make you feel nervous, angry, or panicked. These things can depend on age and you daily life style, like taxes, deadlines, school, money, etc.

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Stress is a normal feeling. There are two main types of stress:

Acute stress. This is short-term stress that goes away quickly. You feel it when you slam on the brakes, have a fight with your partner, or ski down a steep slope. It helps you manage dangerous situations. It also occurs when you do something new or exciting. All people have acute stress at one time or another.

Chronic stress. This is stress that lasts for a longer period of time. You may have chronic stress if you have money problems, an unhappy marriage, or trouble at work. Any type of stress that goes on for weeks or months is chronic stress. You can become so used to chronic stress that you don't realize it is a problem. If you don't find ways to manage stress, it may lead to health problems.

STRESS AND YOUR BODY

Your body reacts to stress by releasing hormones. These hormones make your brain more alert, cause your muscles to tense, and increase your pulse. In the short term, these reactions are good because they can help you handle the situation causing stress. This is your body's way of protecting itself.

When you have chronic stress, your body stays alert, even though there is no danger. Over time, this puts you at risk for health problems, including:

If you already have a health condition, chronic stress can make it worse.

SIGNS OF TOO MUCH STRESS

Stress can cause many types of physical and emotional symptoms. Sometimes, you may not realize these symptoms are caused by stress. Here are some signs that stress may be affecting you:

Diarrhea or constipation

Forgetfulness

Frequent aches and pains

Headaches

Lack of energy or focus

Sexual problems

Stiff jaw or neck

Tiredness

Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

Upset stomach

Use of alcohol or drugs to relax

Weight loss or gain

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Stress and your health: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

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Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous.

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Overview

Teen depression is a serious mental health problem that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how your teenager thinks, feels and behaves, and it can cause emotional, functional and physical problems. Although depression can occur at any time in life, symptoms may be different between teens and adults.

Issues such as peer pressure, academic expectations and changing bodies can bring a lot of ups and downs for teens. But for some teens, the lows are more than just temporary feelings - they're a symptom of depression.

Teen depression isn't a weakness or something that can be overcome with willpower - it can have serious consequences and requires long-term treatment. For most teens, depression symptoms ease with treatment such as medication and psychological counseling.

Symptoms

Teen depression signs and symptoms include a change from the teenager's previous attitude and behavior that can cause significant distress and problems at school or home, in social activities, or in other areas of life.

Depression symptoms can vary in severity, but changes in your teen's emotions and behavior may include the examples below.

Emotional changes

Be alert for emotional changes, such as:

Feelings of sadness, which can include crying spells for no apparent reason

Frustration or feelings of anger, even over small matters

Feeling hopeless or empty

Irritable or annoyed mood

Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities

Loss of interest in, or conflict with, family and friends

Low self-esteem

Feelings of worthlessness or guilt

Fixation on past failures or exaggerated self-blame or self-criticism

Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure, and the need for excessive reassurance

Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things

Ongoing sense that life and the future are grim and bleak

Frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide

Behavioral changes

Watch for changes in behavior, such as:

Tiredness and loss of energy

Insomnia or sleeping too much

Changes in appetite - decreased appetite and weight loss, or increased cravings for food and weight gain

Use of alcohol or drugs

Agitation or restlessness - for example, pacing, hand-wringing or an inability to sit still

Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements

Frequent complaints of unexplained body aches and headaches, which may include frequent visits to the school nurse

Social isolation

Poor school performance or frequent absences from school

Less attention to personal hygiene or appearance

Angry outbursts, disruptive or risky behavior, or other acting-out behaviors

Self-harm - for example, cutting or burning

Making a suicide plan or a suicide attempt

What's normal and what's not

It can be difficult to tell the difference between ups and downs that are just part of being a teenager and teen depression. Talk with your teen. Try to determine whether he or she seems capable of managing challenging feelings, or if life seems overwhelming.

When to see a doctor

If depression signs and symptoms continue, begin to interfere in your teen's life, or cause you to have concerns about suicide or your teen's safety, talk to a doctor or a mental health professional trained to work with adolescents. Your teen's family doctor or pediatrician is a good place to start. Or your teen's school may recommend someone.

Depression symptoms likely won't get better on their own - and they may get worse or lead to other problems if untreated. Depressed teenagers may be at risk of suicide, even if signs and symptoms don't appear to be severe.

If you're a teen and you think you may be depressed - or you have a friend who may be depressed - don't wait to get help. Talk to a health care provider such as your doctor or school nurse. Share your concerns with a parent, a close friend, a spiritual leader, a teacher or someone else you trust.

Symptoms

Suicide is often associated with depression. If you think you may hurt yourself or attempt suicide, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.

Also consider these options if you're having suicidal thoughts:

Call your mental health professional.

Contact a suicide hotline.

In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or use the Lifeline Chat. The Spanish language phone line is 1-888-628-9454 (toll-free). Services are free and confidential.

Or contact a crisis service for teenagers in the U.S. called TXT 4 HELP: Text the word "safe" and your current location to 4HELP (44357) for immediate help, with the option for interactive texting.

Seek help from your primary care doctor or other health care provider.

Reach out to a close friend or loved one.

Contact a minister, spiritual leader or someone else in your faith community.

If a loved one or friend is in danger of attempting suicide or has made an attempt:

Make sure someone stays with that person.

Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.

Or, if you can do so safely, take the person to the nearest hospital emergency room.

Never ignore comments or concerns about suicide. Always take action to get help.

Causes

It's not known exactly what causes depression, but a variety of issues may be involved. These include:

Brain chemistry. Neurotransmitters are naturally occurring brain chemicals that carry signals to other parts of your brain and body. When these chemicals are abnormal or impaired, the function of nerve receptors and nerve systems changes, leading to depression.

Hormones. Changes in the body's balance of hormones may be involved in causing or triggering depression.

Inherited traits. Depression is more common in people whose blood relatives - such as a parent or grandparent - also have the condition.

Early childhood trauma. Traumatic events during childhood, such as physical or emotional abuse, or loss of a parent, may cause changes in the brain that increase the risk of depression.

Learned patterns of negative thinking. Teen depression may be linked to learning to feel helpless - rather than learning to feel capable of finding solutions for life's challenges.

Risk factors

Many factors increase the risk of developing or triggering teen depression, including:

Having issues that negatively impact self-esteem, such as obesity, peer problems, long-term bullying or academic problems

Having been the victim or witness of violence, such as physical or sexual abuse

Having other mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, an anxiety disorder, a personality disorder, anorexia or bulimia

Having a learning disability or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Having ongoing pain or a chronic physical illness such as cancer, diabetes or asthma

Having certain personality traits, such as low self-esteem or being overly dependent, self-critical or pessimistic

Abusing alcohol, nicotine or other drugs

Being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in an unsupportive environment

Family history and issues with family or others may also increase your teenager's risk of depression, such as:

Having a parent, grandparent or other blood relative with depression, bipolar disorder or alcohol use problems

Having a family member who died by suicide

Having a family with major communication and relationship problems

Having experienced recent stressful life events, such as parental divorce, parental military service or the death of a loved one

Complications

Untreated depression can result in emotional, behavioral and health problems that affect every area of your teenager's life. Complications related to teen depression may include, for example:

Alcohol and drug misuse

Academic problems

Family conflicts and relationship difficulties

Suicide attempts or suicide

Prevention

There's no sure way to prevent depression. However, these strategies may help. Encourage your teenager to:

Take steps to control stress, increase resilience and boost self-esteem to help handle issues when they arise

Practice self-care, for example by creating a healthy sleep routine and using electronics responsibly and in moderation

Reach out for friendship and social support, especially in times of crisis

Get treatment at the earliest sign of a problem to help prevent depression from worsening

Maintain ongoing treatment, if recommended, even after symptoms let up, to help prevent a relapse of depression symptoms

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This serious mental health problem affects how your teenager thinks, feels and behaves, and can cause emotional, functional and physical problems.

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National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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The behaviors listed below may be some of the signs that someone is thinking about suicide.

Talking about:

Wanting to die

Great guilt or shame

Being a burden to others

Feeling:

Empty, hopeless, trapped, or having no reason to live

Extremely sad, more anxious, agitated, or full of rage

Unbearable emotional or physical pain

Changing behavior, such as:

Making a plan or researching ways to die

Withdrawing from friends, saying goodbye, giving away important items, or making a will

Taking dangerous risks such as driving extremely fast

Displaying extreme mood swings

Eating or sleeping more or less

Using drugs or alcohol more often

If these warning signs apply to you or someone you know, get help as soon as possible, particularly if the behavior is new or has increased recently.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988
Chat at 988lifeline.org

Crisis Text Line
Text "HELLO" to 741741
www.nimh.nih.gov/suicideprevention
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Mental Health
NIMH Identifier No. OM 22-4316
Revised 2022

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Reprints

The information in this publication is in the public domain and may be reused or copied without permission. However, you may not reuse or copy the images in the publication. If you do use our materials, we request that you cite the National Institute of Mental Health. To learn more about using NIMH publications, refer to NIMH's reprint guidelines.

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This infographic presents behaviors and feelings that may be warning signs that someone is thinking about suicide.

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