How can I identify if a child or young person is depressed or struggling with low mood?

As we mentioned previously, being aware of changes within a child or young person’s presentation is an important part of understanding how their mental health and emotional wellbeing might be changing.

Talking with those who know the child or young people well could also help you identify whether they are indeed struggling with their mood and how long this has been an issue. Knowing what depression and low mood might look like in children and young people will help you consider whether they would benefit from a referral to specialist mental health services for an assessment of these difficulties. We will look at how you might access specialist mental health support for a child or young person later in this session.

From the evidence base, we are aware there is a group of children and young people who are known to be at an increased risk of developing depression or persistent low mood. It’s helpful to be aware of the factors that can increase prevalence to more quickly identify a child or young person who is beginning to suffer mood challenges and offer timely support and intervention to better support them. Those at greater risk of developing a mood disorder like depression include children and young people:

• With other mental health problems (such as anxiety)
• Those with chronic physical health conditions
• Those with close family members who experience depression
• Those children and young people who have experienced depression before themselves in the past
• Those who have experienced a significant traumatic life event(s)

Some typical signs of clinical depression in children and young people might include some of the following.

Psychological or cognitive

• Have little motivation or interest in things
• Use alcohol or drugs to help cope with feelings
• Express feel hopeless or helpless about their life and their future
• Find it difficult to concentrate and make decisions
• Have low self-esteem and thoughts that life isn’t worth living
• Feel tearful or irritable
• Find it hard to cope with day-to-day life
• Not want to be with others

Physical

• Move or speak more slowly than usual
• Change in appetite or weight (usually decreased, but sometimes increased)
• Feel restless or agitated
• Unexplained aches and pains
• Disturbed sleep (e.g., finding it hard to fall asleep at night, or waking up very early in the morning, or repeated waking during the night)
• Changes to menstrual cycle pattern
• Show a lack of energy and complain of feeling tired

You may find a young person who is struggling more with persistent low mood (sometimes diagnosed as dysthymia) may also show some of these characteristics, but generally experiences them less frequently and with less severity. This usually means the impact of these challenges upon everyday functioning of the child or young person is less marked.