SLBMI Child and Adolescent Services>> Child and Adolescent Disorders That We Treat>> Depression Among Children and Adolescents

Depression Among Children and Adolescents

Children and adolescents can become depressed. The consensus among child mental health experts is that depressed mood that is sufficiently severe to be considered in need of treatment is less common among children than among adults but the prevalence increases dramatically during adolescence, especially for girls.

The symptoms of depression are essentially the same for children, adolescents and adults, e.g. sadness, loss of pleasure in activities, disturbances in sleep and appetite, etc. Developmental stage in life does affect how depression will look at different ages. For example, younger children are more likely than adults to be irritable and to have large swings in emotions. Adolescents especially are likely to make an effort to take their lives. Another difference is that depressed boys, especially during adolescence, can become aggressive during episodes of depression. Thus, it becomes very important to try to determine the source of problematic behavior, which can help with treatment. Because depression can be very impairing, in the case of suicidal thinking, even life threatening, it is important to understand what is making a teen destructive.

While major life events like depression, death of a family member, or major health problems, can trigger depressive episodes in children just like in adults, recent research suggests that situations that most adults would not see as especially distressing can be very upsetting to children. Frequently occurring, relatively minor difficulties can seriously undermine a child's sense of well-being. Some of the more stressful events include feeling pressured by peers to do something the child doesn't want to do like try a cigarette, being excluded by peers, having parents argue in front of them, not having enough time with parents, moving and not getting along with a teacher.

Treatment

Depression at any age is a very treatable condition. Individual psychotherapy with plenty of parental involvement has been found to be effective with many children and teens. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy have been extensively studied and have been found to be effective. It is strongly recommended that parents be involved in the treatment of depressed children and teens, although the therapist is likely to spend much of the therapeutic time talking with the child alone. In addition, there are a variety of antidepressants that are available. When medication is used, it is recommended that it part of an overall plan of treatment, which would include individual and family therapy. Unfortunately, most people, including youth, with depression do not get treatment.