According to a 2009 report by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, approximately 8% of American teenagers have a major depressive episode in any given year. Twenty percent experience depression by age 18.
Channell Jordan-Grier has been struggling with this condition since she was 14. She's tried therapy and anti-depressants but her mother ended these treatments when her daughter got few positive results. The Greensboro teen is now 17. In her WFDD Radio 101 essay, Channell explores what she believes are barriers to her recovery.