Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about depression in children and adolescents.

If you want to follow along with written notes on this topic,

you can follow along at Zero to Finals.com slash depression or in the CAMS section of the Zero Definals Pediatrics book.

So let's get straight into it.

Depression is a disorder that causes persistent feelings of low mood, low energy, and reduced interest

in activities.

It can affect people of all ages, including children and adolescents.

It's often triggered by life events, although it can happen without any apparent triggers. So let's talk about the presentation.

Typical symptoms of depression include low mood, anhydenia, which is a lack of pleasure in

activities, and low energy.

A few other symptoms of depression include anxiety and excessive worry, clinginess,

irritability, avoiding social situations, for example, avoiding going to school,

feelings of hopelessness about the future, poor sleep, particularly with early morning

waking, poor appetite or overeating, poor concentration, and often physical symptoms such as abdominal

pain. There are key points that need to be considered in assessing children and adolescents who have depression.

Pay particular attention to the psychosocial contributors.

It's important to speak to the child or adolescent and ask questions in private

as well as taking a history with the parents or others present.

Take a history of potential triggers, for example, the loss of a family member, the home

environment, the family relationships, the relationship with friends, sexual relationships,

school situations and pressures, bullying, drugs and alcohol, a history of self-harm, thoughts of self-harm or suicide,

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