When does sadness become depression?

I'm still worried about Steph.

Ok, I will always worry about her, that's my job, but this morning she has given me cause for more worry than usual.

She has never been the most resilient person, and has in the past had teachers and myself worried about her low self esteem. When she was in year 6 and 7 she suffered a bout of depression which with the help of a loving school, church, and home environment we were able to overcome.

As most of you know she broke up with her boyfriend of 12 months about a month ago. She seemed to handle that pretty well but now I'm not so sure. This morning she told me that she feels like she wants to cry almost every day. She said she isn't sure why, she doesn't think it's Corey, she just feels alone. Breaking up with Corey didn't just mean she lost a boyfriend and friend but a whole group of friends. She became a part of his friendship circle and she loved it. Now she feels she can't associate with that group and it has left her feeling lost.

Steph hates being alone. She says whenever she is alone she just thinks about how she is useless and that she will never amount to anything. Corey was wonderful for her self esteem and I think she is really struggling to find herself without him.

How do you teach a person to value themselves? How do you encourage them to learn to enjoy their own company?

At what point does being sad and lonely become depression, and how, as a mother, can I stop that from happening again?

She isn't sad all the time. Until this morning I had no idea that she was sad at all. She still does the things that she enjoys doing like singing, playing the guitar and artwork. She still engages in converstation with us and with her friends. She isn't withdrawn like she was last time, quite the opposite, she wants to be out socialising all the time.

The thing that really bothers me is that she doesn't have the Lord. She won't come to church and I really don't know what's in her heart with regard to her faith. And I'm afraid to ask.

Lord, please be with Stephanie in this time of sadness. Help her realise what a wonderful and beautiful person she is, and help her find some direction in her life. She is feeling lost and alone at the moment Lord, please help her through this time.