Depression

For health professionals

What is depression?

Depression is a serious problem for teenagers. Common features of depression include hopelessness, sadness, irritability and anger, isolation, withdrawal and worthlessness.

Young people do not often express their depression in a straightforward way and can show they are affected through passive or negative behaviours.

About depression

Most people, including children and adults, feel low occasionally. This is a normal reaction to events that are stressful or upsetting. It is even more common for teenagers to be affected by a range of moods, particularly feeling ‘blue’.

However, sometimes these feelings continue and turn into clinical depression. Depression can affect children as young as eleven although it is less common in the younger age group. Clinical depression, requiring appropriate treatment, is thought to affect around every 5 out of 100 teenagers.

Four signs of depression

PHYSICAL

  • Sleep changes
  • Appetite changes
  • Slowed down
  • Extreme tiredness

  • Negative thoughts
  • Concentration problems
  • Lack of interest
  • Slowed down thinking

  • Lack of engagement
  • Quiet and withdrawn
  • May self-harm
  • May misuse alcohol

  • Feeling sad
  • Feeling numb
  • Feeling hopeless
  • Feeling overwhelmed

Four steps to bringing about change

Support the child or young person through the following steps:

ACKNOWLEDGE

  • Acknowledge that there is a problem and that it’s something that will benefit from early change. This may mean engaging the family and/or the school in the treatment plan

  • Provide information on regular sleep, eating regularly, keeping regular activity and exercise – would they benefit from a course of exercise?
  • Suggest they learn breathing techniques and start to get them to keep a diary of negative or self-defeating thoughts
  • Encourage keeping regular contact with friends. Make a referral as necessary

  • Encourage them to keep a diary to note changes
  • Encourage them to keep talking – to friends, to someone who can help you – you may need to make a referral or meet up regularly yourself

  • Depression takes time to change but responds very well to psychological treatment. Encourage that they keep putting into practice the changes that they have been asked to implement and keep a copy of these changes in your records so that you can monitor. Make sure relapse is monitored and dealt with as soon as possible.

Further Learning

Visit our Further Advice page for details of other organisations that can help.

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