Quick Facts on Major Depressive Disorder

A brief overview of the signs and symptoms and how it's treated.

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Overview

Major depressive disorder is a severe episode of depression that tends to last from seven to nine months. A child with major depression experiences persistent, intense feelings of sadness and hopelessness that significantly impact her daily life and ability to function.

Symptoms

Unusual sadness, persisting even when circumstances change
Reduced interest in activities she once enjoyed; reduced feelings of anticipation
Involuntary changes in weight
Shifts in sleep patterns
Sluggishness
Harsh self-assessment (“I’m ugly. I’m no good. I’ll never make friends.”)
Thoughts of or attempts at suicide

Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

Major depression is sometimes treatable with therapy alone, but experts agree that a combination of therapy and medication is usually the best approach.

Childhood and adolescent depression is often treated with cognitivebehavioral therapy

behavioral therapy: A form of treatment that focuses directly on reducing or managing problematic behaviors without particular attention to thoughts, events or circumstances that prompted the behaviors.

(CBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

Medications combating depression are designed to increase the supply of certain neurotransmitters whose absence is linked to depression. These drugs include selective serotoninreuptake inhibitors

reuptake inhibitors: Medications that increase the supply of neurotransmitters in the brain by blocking their re-absorption and rapid destruction.

(SSRIs), which are safe if properly managed. The FDA has decided that all antidepressants run the risk of encouraging suicidal thoughts, and they all carry warning labels. But the phenomenon is rare and has been tied only to suicidal ideation, not actual suicide attempts.