When Teens Are Depressed
About 5 percent of children become clinically depressed at some point during the transition to adulthood. Depression is a burden both for the adolescents and their families and carries a number of risks, including teen suicide. Results of a major clinical study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), appear in the October 2007 Archives of General Psychiatry. The study concludes that combining antidepressant medication and cognitive behavioral therapy is the fastest and safest way to treat depression. Medication alone can be quick and easy, but may elevate the risk of suicide even as it is improving depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy alone can be very effective, but on average the teens stay depressed longer before improvement. Combining the two delivers the …(more)
Alan Greene MD FAAP
