Depressive Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified

You said your child is sometimes sad or irritable. His/her sadness lasts anywhere from a few days up to 2 weeks in a row. You said these problems may have been happening as often as once a month for one year or longer. The problems may have only happened once, but were pretty bad.

In addition to feeling sad, you said your child has had some of these other problems:

• Crying
• Doesn't want to do things s/he used to enjoy
• Eats too much or too little
• Problems falling asleep or waking up too early
• Has too little or too much energy; Bored a lot
• Feels worthless
• Has little or no hope
• Can't stay on task
• Seems angry or upset a lot
• Feels bad him/herself
• Thinks about death
• Thinks about hurting or killing him/herself

Your child's sadness may be causing big problems for him/her at home or school. For example, s/he may be failing classes at school. S/he may be having problems getting along with you or other adults or other children. Children who have these problems often have something called a Depressive Disorder. These types of problems are commonly referred to as "depression".

School-aged boys and girls have an equal chance of becoming depressed. Teenage girls and women are twice as likely to be depressed as men.

Depression is pretty common in children. Children under a lot of stress have a higher chance of getting depressed. Children who have been depressed more than once may get depressed again. Depression tends to run in families.

Adapted in part from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Facts for Families series (1997) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Primary Care (DSM-PC) (1996) , and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition (1994).