A Guide to Communicating with Professionals by Paul Weingartner Visit Special Education . This book explores depression from the perspective of those who are closest to the sufferers of this disorder and gives successful coping strategies of many people who often suffer in silence, believing their own problems have no claim to attention. Visit Self-Help and Support Groups . Several well conducted studies have shown that children with ADHD are more likely than others to become depressed at some time during their development. In fact, the risk for developing depression is as much as 3 times greater than for other children.
Lets begin by reviewing what mental health professionals mean when they talk about depression.
The important point to emphasize is that the clinical diagnosis of depression requires the presence of a collection of different symptoms - just because one is feeling down or depressed does not necessarily mean that the diagnosis of major depression would be appropriate. Let me also say a few words about depression in children. Research has shown that the core symptoms for depression in children and adolescents are the same as for adults. Certain symptoms appear to be more prominent at different ages, however. Although there of course would be wide variations from child to child, such a child might seem to be extremely irritable, and this would represent a distinct change from their typical state.