Students are likely to have either experienced depression or known someone who experienced depression. In small groups, have students describe the degrees of depression, ranging from times when people feel “down” or “sad,” all the way to clinical depression. Draw a horizontal line (continuum) on the board. Put “feeling down or sad” at the left end and “clinical depression” on the right end, and illustrate the continuum with examples the students have generated. Discuss the extent to which communication in relationships was affected along the continuum.

Remind students that the closer people get to the right end/clinical depression, the more important it is to get help.