Margaret Trudeau gets her groove back

Another pivotal event of her teen years was being introduced to marijuana at Simon Fraser University, which turned out to be far preferable to the Baby Duck wine so popular with so many students. She did give it up when she got engaged.

"Pierre told me I must, because it was illegal," she said.

"If I hadn't ever smoked marijuana, I don't think I ever would have been hospitalized, to tell you the truth. I think I would have gone on with my emotions up and down, and I never would have climbed as high as I did."

In her case, like so many, life events can trigger bipolar disorder. For Mrs. Trudeau, it was the post-partum depression that followed the birth of her second child. In spite of a wonderful new baby and a two-year-old who was the light of her life, she just didn't want to get out of bed.

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Ashland forum targets cyber bullying

These trends could contribute to other worrisome statistics the survey turned up on teen depression, stress and suicide, Moro said.

The apparent anonymity of the Internet also makes bullying easier, May said. Straightforward insults or threats are most common, but bullies sometimes use digital images or videos to publicly humiliate their victims. Others may pose as their target on social networking sites to mock them or even use viruses and identity theft, she said.

The results can be devastating, May said, citing a student whose schoolmate sent a nude photo of him to his teachers, principal and superintendent.

Bullies and their targets should know any information put online can come back to haunt them. Even private profiles on social networking sites can be hacked, and sometimes even deleted information can still be accessed later.

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Group aims to support teens

As an example, Singer offered a few signs of a teen dealing with depression: truancy, a short temper or sensitivity to criticism.

"Put that all together, and how does that label a teen in most schools?" she said. "Bad kid. So those signs are being missed."

Singer offered a suggestion for teens who might be reluctant to attend such a meeting.

"As far as the possibility of embarrassment or shame or whatever negativity the kid is thinking about, there is the tremendous reassurance that you are not alone," Singer said. "The feeling of power that comes to you because you are supported and cared about by others who understand."

Alberghini went further.

"Just try one," she said. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You can just listen."

jfrantz@ydr.com; 771-2062

ABOUT THE GROUP This support group is for teenagers who have mental illness, who have friends or family diagnosed with mental illness, or who are concerned about what's happening in their own lives.

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Teen's film revealed depression

Without realizing he was scripting his own life, at age 16 Mackie made a film about a teen who finds no joy in life, who wants to end his emotional pain through a drug-induced eternal high. The film — called "Eternal High" — has since won 24 national awards and is now distributed in more than 10 countries, as well as in communities across the United States.

Mackie will speak and show the 3-minute film at noon Wednesday at a free community event in the Walb Student Union Ballroom at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

"When I made this film, I really didn't know I was depressed," Mackie says. "Life was boring. I didn't see much enjoyment in living."

So Mackie the writer and high school tennis star intensely describes what it is like for someone else to live with severe depression.

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THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

Rutledge slipped into depression. She thought of dropping out, a familiar option for teen mothers. Nationally, only 63 percent of teenagers who have babies before they reach 18 graduate from high school or get their GEDs, according to Planned Parenthood.

But then Rutledge meditated hard on the naysayers and her newborn - and the stay-in-school urgings of her mother, who says she had Rutledge when she was 18 - and used it all as motivation. She's had minimum-wage jobs, and didn't want a life stuck working the supermarket cash register. She's been sardined into public housing, and wanted a chance to own her own home, maybe in the suburbs, with a pool and a Jacuzzi. "Society always knocks kids who grow up in the projects," Rutledge says. "They think we can't do anything."

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Brothers attached by gang of 30

She said she thought it had something to do with a teen at school who didn't like her son.

"They (the group) saw them there and confronted them," she said.

"They head-butted him (the eldest) to the ground, then set upon him.

"It had nothing to do with him, he was attacked by people he didn't know.

"One chased my youngest son and punched him in the throat.

He pushed a security guard out of the way to get at him.

"It makes me fearful."

She said her eldest son had a fractured cheekbone, and a depression in his face that required treatment in Townsville Hospital.

"He might end up with a scar under his eye," she said.

"He will not be pressing charges, he doesn't want to escalate the situation."

When an ambulance arrived to take the elder son to hospital, police were contacted and on arrival, were told by security that the situation was "in hand".

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'How Far Can You Bounce?' Shouts Push Suicidal Teen to Death Leap

Dykes was believed to have been suffering from depression and struggling to overcome a relationship breakdown.

Superintendent Andy Hough, of Derbyshire police, said he was disappointed and disturbed by the people heard encouraging Dykes to jump.

"I find it a disturbing and shocking reflection on society when people feel inclined to do that," Supt Hough told the MailOnline.

Click here to read more on this story from News.com.au.

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the hard-drinking teen who turned into a world-beater

The most compelling part of Sonia's story tells of the long, dark months that followed when she slipped into deep depression, convinced that people were spreading rumours about her personal life, and that the world judged her a failure.

"It was lonely, so lonely," she recalls.

On Christmas Day: "The highlight was when I went for a run. I just cooked myself dinner and that was it."

And then the redemption. She climbed out of the pit and won her Olympic medal.

On a personal level she found true love with Nic Bideau (after a triangular tussle involving runner Cathy Freeman), married, and had two beautiful daughters.

And with all that, the loneliness of this remarkable middle-distance runner comes to a happy end.

My Story by Sonia O'Sullivan, with Tom Humphries, is published by Penguin Ireland

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Struck by SUV, Burbank teen dies with friends around her

McSheridan had helped a pal suffering with depression and volunteered with "To Write Love on Her Arms," a charity that helps teenage self-harmers, her sister Kelly said.

"I think that shows how selfless she was," her sister said.

Jeremy Naser, a close friend, was one of eight friends who rushed to Christ Medical Center on Wednesday night after learning of the accident. Though McSheridan never regained consciousness, they were with her at the end.

"She loved to draw her friends and her favorite band members," he said. "She was so kind-hearted and creative."

Rick McSheridan said the fact so many of her friends had come to the hospital so quickly was revealing.

"You wouldn't expect that teenagers would want to be in that room, because she was in pretty bad shape," he said.

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“Wishful Drinking” Puts the “Dis” in Dysfunction

As a teen, she witnessed the parade of stepmothers who came in and out of her father's life, one not much older than herself. In her 20s she rocketed to fame in Star Wars, had two failed marriages to the same man, wrote the very successful novel and subsequent screenplay for the scathingly funny semi-autobiographical Postcards from the Edge, and got admitted to rehab for the first of many times. A drug addict and alcoholic later diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder), Fisher today at 52 could be considered the poster child for survival.

The sarcastically self-effacing actress and scribe refuses to tag herself with that label, however. She also venomously disparages tell-all celebrities while telling all on her own self and family. Fisher's seemingly absurd history - truth being far stranger than fiction - could easily devolve into self-serving 12-step confession.

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Teen, alleged abductor made hundreds of calls - court

Howard suggested taking her to the hospital "to see if I had depression or something".

While on the road trip he told her to text her friends and let them know she was alright.

Following the video screening, the teen was questioned by police prosecutor David Pawson who sought identification of photographic items found in the glove box of Howard's car.

Asked who a packet of condoms belonged to, she said: "They are certainly not mine."

A length of cable and some binding tape were, she assumed, Howard's. But she didn't know what they were there for.

Howard's lawyer, Craig Tuck, accepted a prima facie case had been established and entered a not guilty plea to the abduction charge.

Howard was remanded on bail for a callover on December 11.

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Over-scheduling may be overrated

High school students pressured to beef up their resumes can suffer from depression and anxiety.

It takes a toll on parents as well, not to mention the cost to shuttle kids among all those activities.

Despite what the neighbors might say, the truth is that our kids will still get into college even if they've never watched a Baby Einstein video or been president of the Medieval Literature Club.

"The parents who are over-the-top, you're never going to change," says Alvin Rosenfeld, a child psychiatrist and author of "The Over-Scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap." "It's about the incessant pressure on the rest of us. It's very hard to have the inner fortitude to resist that pressure."

The irony is that our strengths -- independence, thinking outside the box, creative problem-solving -- develop best when kids have time to play, to dream, to dawdle.

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Chastity advocate pulls no punches

Evert stressed that taking this route leads to greater happiness, noting that the potential for depression rises sharply among teen boys and girls who become sexually active. Lest young people fear losing their popularity, he pointed out that football's Philip Rivers, quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, was a virgin and so was his wife, Tiffany, when they got married.

Evert noted that chastity and abstinence are not the same things: Whereas abstinence means not having sex, chastity also includes pure thoughts and speech. He also pointed out the difference between infatuation and true love, declaring that "a lot of people think if the feeling goes down, love is disappearing. That's not true at all."

Evert asserted that true love is not really a feeling, but "an act of the will to do your best for someone else" that has a much greater permanence.

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Bend seniors recall Great Depression's lessons

In 1929, Gene and Betty Harries weren't even teen-agers, and growing up in the Midwest. the Great Depression hit them hard.

"I remember that there wasn't much money back then. If you found any money on the floor, it was real money, and you kept it," said Gene Harries, who was barely 10 years old when the stock market crashed in October of 1929. And they say many had it harder than they did.

That was then, and now things are much different. Economists and historians say the most important difference between today's economic environment and the old days is the government's role.

"Our economy is depending on decisive action from the government," President Bush said in recent, tumultuous days."The sooner we address the problem, the sooner we can get back on the path of growth and job creation.

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Chastity advocate pulls no punches

Evert stressed that taking this route leads to greater happiness, noting that the potential for depression rises sharply among teen boys and girls who become sexually active. Lest young people fear losing their popularity, he pointed out that football's Philip Rivers, quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, was a virgin and so was his wife, Tiffany, when they got married.

Evert noted that chastity and abstinence are not the same things: Whereas abstinence means not having sex, chastity also includes pure thoughts and speech. He also pointed out the difference between infatuation and true love, declaring that "a lot of people think if the feeling goes down, love is disappearing. That's not true at all."

Evert asserted that true love is not really a feeling, but "an act of the will to do your best for someone else" that has a much greater permanence.

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No better time to talk to your kids about money

While your preschooler may remain happily oblivious, your interested teen may be a little different. It is best for them to learn something from you than to leave it up to the negative and depressing illustrations in media. So when you sit your kids down to talk, what do you say?

Here are some suggestions: You can start by teaching them that everything in life is cyclical — and that goes for financial markets also. Things go up and things go down. And then they go up again and down again. You can liken it to a wave which goes up and down, or to a glass of water you set down on a flat surface. If you knock the glass, the water is disturbed but, in time, it will once again level out. A good way to illustrate this is to enlist a grandparent to talk to your child about growing up during the Great Depression.

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Teen suicide attempts can stem from wanting to ‘escape’

Depression, bipolar disorder or other psychological disorders, as well as alcohol and drug use. • Feeling of distress, irritability or agitation.• Feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness.• A previous suicide attempt.• A family history of depression or suicide.• Physical or sexual abuse.• Lack of a support network, poor relationships with parents or peers, and feelings of social isolation.• Dealing with homosexuality in a non-supportive family or community or hostile school environment.Suicide among teens often occurs following a stressful life event, such as a perceived failure at school, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, the death of a loved one, a divorce, or a major family conflict.A teen who is thinking about suicide might:• Talk about suicide or death in general.• Talk about "going away."• Talk about feeling hopeless or feeling guilty.• Pull away from friends or family.• Lose the desire to take part in favorite things or activities.• Have trouble concentrating or thinking clearly.• Experience changes in eating or sleeping habits.• Self-destructive behavior (drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or driving too fast, for example).For parents, it’s important to know the warning signs, to keep your eyes and ears open, and to keep the lines of communication with your teen open.

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How Reader Girl Got Her Groove Back

Eventually I had to admit that I was going through a literary depression. But I trudged along dutifully until the day I had one of them there Joycean epiphanies—I couldn't remember the last time I had stayed up reading into the squeaky hours of the night because I couldn't bear to put the book down.

How had that happened? I searched my memory for the last time reading had been a pleasure: age 15. Fantasy had been my favorite genre back then, so I checked out a few fantasies from my library. On the sly, of course. I read them huddled in my bed, nightlight and all. And felt punched in the gut. I'd been spoiled by all that fine literature and couldn't read past the sometimes unpolished and awkward writing enough to enjoy the story.

Well then, I thought, pulling myself up by my boot straps (oh, for genuine boot straps!), if your ideal book isn't out there, then go write it.

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Forum to focus on teen suicides

Although youth suicide is the topic of the workshop, Bowles prefers to focus on suicide as a product of depression, an illness that can be treated successfully. Bowles said he's been invited by schools to talk to students in the wake of a suicide.

"I talk mostly about depression because you don't know which one of those people are going to kill themselves," Bowles explained. "There is a lot of emphasis on suicide, but it should be on depression."

Everyone goes through bouts of depression, but red flags should go up if the depression lasts beyond two weeks, he said.

Individuals can try to overcome depression by talking to friends, exercising, eating healthy, getting sufficient rest, avoiding drugs or alcohol (which is a depressant), problem solving, doing something for others, not striving to be perfect ("nobody is," he said), laughing or taking a break from the sadness by deciding to "feel sorry for myself for (only) a half-hour today," he suggested.

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MNI researchers locate neurological basis of depression following sports concussion

Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University have identified the neurological basis of depression in male athletes with persisting post-concussion symptoms. The study, published in this weeks issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, has important clinical implications for the treatment of individuals who have suffered a cerebral concussion.

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