top of page
Melissa Goldstein, LCSW
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
in Children, Teenagers, and Adults
Major Depressive Disorder is also referred to as clinical depression and is a significant medical condition that can affect many areas of a child's life.
Instead of sadness in children and adolescents, you may see that they are irritable for no apparent reason. In older teens and college students it is more common to experience a depressed mood or a loss of interest and /or pleasure in things that one used to enjoy doing.
Some, but not all, of the symptoms for this disorder, are:
-
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
-
Difficulty thinking or concentrating
-
Somatic complaints (complaints of aches and pains throughout the body)
-
Inability to make decisions
-
Suicidal ideation or suicide plans or attempts
-
Recurrent thoughts of death
-
Increase or decrease in appetite
-
Changes in one’s weight
-
Changes in one's sleep patterns
Depression is the most unpleasant thing... It is the absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope.
bottom of page