Schizophrenia has also been found to be mistaken for manic depression in adolescents. Difficulties often arise in differentiating blunted from depressive affect and apathy from depression-induced delay in response time to questions. It is important for children suffering from mood disorders to receive prompt treatment because early onset places children at a greater risk for multiple episodes of depression throughout their life span. Children who experience their first episode of depression before the age of 15 have a worse prognosis when compared with patients who had a later onset of the disorder. At the present time, there is no definitive treatment for the spectrum of mood disorders in children, although some researchers believe that children respond well to treatment because they readily adapt and their symptoms are not yet entrenched.
Treatment consists of a combination of interventions.
Medications can be useful for cases of major depression or childhood onset mania, and psychotherapy can help children express their feelings and develop ways of coping with the illness. Some other helpful interventions that may be used are educational and family therapy. Children suspected of mood disorders should be evaluated by a child psychiatrist, or if one is not available an adult psychiatrist who has experience in treating children. It is important that the clinician has had special training in speaking with children, utilizing play therapy, and can treat children in context of a family unit. Suicide An estimated 2,000 teenagers per year commit suicide in the United States, making it the leading cause of death after accidents and homicide.