Depression in children

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7358.229

BMJ 2002;325:229-230 ( 3 August )

Editorials

Depression in children

May go unnoticed and untreated

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Children with depressive disorders lack interest in activities they previously enjoyed, criticise themselves, and are pessimisticor hopeless about the future. They may feel sad or irritable.Problems at school arise from indecision and difficulties withconcentration. Depressed children tend to lack energy and haveproblems sleeping. They may have stomach aches or headaches. Morbidthoughts may progress to suicidal thinking and even suicide attempts.¹For various reasons, some adults find it hard to accept that childrenmay experience unpleasant psychological states such as depression.Compared with the literature on depression in adults, evidencefrom randomised controlled trials for the efficacy of treatmentsfor depression in young people isscarce.

A community survey of Australian children found that 3.7% of boys and 2.1% of girls aged 6-12 years had experienced a depressiveepisode in the previous 12 months.² The average duration ofa depressive episode in young people is about nine months, . . . [Full text of this article]

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