While you probably cannot schedule your own appointment with a doctor, you can seek help through several other ways:

1. Try to talk to your parents about how you are feeling. If they have trouble listening to you, then show them this article. Try to pick a time when your parents are not busy, and say that you have something important to share with them— and that they need to listen to you.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask your parents to make an appointment with a doctor or mental health professional.

3. If you feel that your parents have been unresponsive or you are not ready to talk to them, contact a teacher or guidance counselor at your school. Somebody at the school can work with you to address the negative feelings you are experiencing.

4. Contact an adult relative or friend of the family with whom you can share your feelings. Ask for advice.

5. Don’t suffer in silence. Reveal your feelings because depression is a highly treatable condition. However, nobody can help if you don’t open up and share your sadness.

Nathan Naparstek, Ph.D, author of Is Your Child Depressed? (McGraw-Hill), specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents. As a school psychologist with the Schenectady City School District for the past 25 years and a licensed psychologist in his private practice for 16 years, he has worked with several thousand children and their families.

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