What is the significance of Depression and Anxiety in children and

youth?

In the U.S. today, one in ten children suffer from a mental disorder severe enough to cause some level of

impairment. All children feel sad, blue, irritable or nervous on occasion. However, when those emotions

continue for an extended period or interfere with activities of daily living, the medical home should screen and

consider interventions to improve the child’s functioning and success in life. Increasingly, the responsibility for

providing mental health care falls to primary care providers. Because normal behaviors vary from one

childhood stage to another, it can be difficult to tell whether a child is just going through a temporary "phase" or

is suffering from depression.

Anxiety is common in children and adolescents and has a comparable rate of occurrence to many physical

disorders such as asthma. Since anxiety is developmentally appropriate during certain periods of life, the

medical home should have the tools available to distinguish between normal anxiety and clinical anxiety.

Prevalence rates vary according to the study but ranges

between 5-9% of school age children meeting the criteria for one of the anxiety disorders.

What are the symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and

youth?

The behavior of depressed children and teenagers may differ from the behavior of depressed adults. Only in

the past two decades has depression in children been taken very seriously. The depressed child may pretend

to be sick, refuse to go to school, cling to a parent, or worry that the parent may die. Older children may sulk,

get into trouble at school, be negative, grouchy, and feel misunderstood.

Anxious children are often overly tense or uptight. Some may seek a lot of reassurance, and their worries may

interfere with activities. Anxious children may also be quiet, compliant and eager to please, therefore their

sSuicidal or suicidal thoughts

sRefusal to go to school

sGrades have dropped

sNot functioning with friends

s Major changes in eating and sleeping

s Depressed or irritable moods

sDifficulty concentrating

s Anger, Fatigue, restlessness

s Sleep problems

s Feelings of worthlessness

s Appetite problems

sSocial withdrawal, change of friends

s Complaints of physical symptoms

s Hopelessness

sConstant thoughts and intense fears about the safety of parents and caretakers

s Refusing to go to school

sFrequent stomach aches and other physical complaints

sExtreme worries about sleeping away from home

sBeing overly “clingy”

s The fears cause significant distress and interfere with usual activities

sAvoidance of social situations

s Few friends outside the family

sWorrying about things before they happen