y times medication is prescribed to help with the depression, but medication isn’t always the only answer. Along with the proper prescribed medication, a person suffering from depression should seek professional counsel

Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is that "children are not always able to express how they feel." Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders and depression take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the "challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm." Therefore, diagnosis should not lie only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors. Mood disorders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety, eating disorders, hyperactivity, substance abuse and suicide (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996; Oster & Montgomery, 1996) all of which can hide depressive symptoms. The signs of clinical depression include marked changes in mood and associated behaviors that range from sadness, withdrawal, and decreased energy to intense feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. Depression is often described as an exaggeration of the duration and intensity of "normal" mood changes (Brown 1996). Key indicators of adolescent depression include a drastic change in eating and sleeping patterns, significant loss of interest in activities that were once found fun or interesting, constant boredom, disruptive behavior, peer problems, increased irritability and aggression (Blackman, 1995; Oster & Montgomery, 1996; Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) proposed "formal psychological testing may be helpful in complicated presentations that do not lend themselves easily to diagnosis." For many teens, symptoms of depression are directly related to low self-esteem stemming from increased emphasis on peer popularity. For other teens, depression arises from poor family relations that could include decreased family support and perceived rejection by parents (Lasko et al., 1996). Oster & Montgomery (1996) stated that "when parents are struggling over marital or career problems, or are ill themselves, teens may feel the tension and try to distract their parents." This "distraction" could include increased disruptive behavior, self-inflicted isolation and even verbal threats of suicide.

When a young person feels they might be depressed, it is very important for them to see the proper medical professional. So, how can the physician determine when a patient should be diagnosed as depressed or suicidal? Brown (1996) suggested the best way to diagnose is to "screen out the vulnerable groups of children and adolescents for the risk factors of suicide and then refer them for treatment." Some of these "risk factors" include verbal signs of suicide within the last three months, prior attempts at suicide, indication of severe mood problems, or excessive alcohol and substance abuse. Many physicians tend to think of depression as an illness of adulthood. In fact, Brown (1996) stated, "it was only in the 1980's that mood disorders in children were included in the category of diagnosed psychiatric illnesses." In actuality, seven to fourteen percent of children will experience an episode of major depression before the age of fifteen. In a sampling of 100,000 adolescents, two to three thousand will have mood disorders out of which eight to ten will commit suicide (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) remarked th

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