What is depression?
Depression is a serious medical condition that can significantly hinder your child’s academic, emotional, and social development. Mood, appetite, and sleep are implicated in depression because they are regulated by the neurotransmitters seratonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. In short, neurotransmitters are cells in the brain that communicate and enable us to function (i.e. eat, sleep, feel happy, angry, regulate our responses to experiences and events). If your child or teen is clinically depressed, mood, sleep, or appetite will be effected or imbalanced. Psychotherapy can alter cognitive and emotional processes (or brain chemistry) to improve mood, appetite, and sleep, and thus improve interpersonal relationships. However, sometimes medication is needed to regulate these neurotransmitters. Sometimes psychotherapy and medication is the most effective combination of therapies to decrease the symptoms of clinical depression. Not everyone needs medication. A careful and collaborative evaluation with your doctor will help you decide if medication may be indicated or helpful.

How can I tell if my child is depressed?
Depression in children and teens looks different than depression in adults. An adult who is depressed may look very sad, cry often, isolate from others, sleep a lot or have insomnia, or even look and feel physically ill. The duration of depression in adults is often weeks or months, and the severity usually worsens before it improves. A child or teen who is depressed may have hours, days, or weeks in which their mood and behavior varies. Sometimes parents notice the magnitude of the problem when academics decline, their child refuses to attend school, or is truant.

A child or teen may be irritable, aggressive, more argumentative or sensitive than usual, complain that she can’t sleep, stay-up late watching TV, talking on the phone, text messaging, playing video games, etc. No matter what the consequence you can’t get your child to sleep at a reasonable hour. Sleep disturbance is one sign of depression. A child or teen who has great difficulty falling asleep, waking numerous times in the night, or waking earlier than needed may be suffering from depression. Similarly, a child or teen that would rather sleep most of the day than be with friends may be depressed. Appetite disturbance may also signify depression. If your child is always hungry, eating when not hungry, gaining weight, eating less, or losing weight it may be depression.