Helping Your Teen Overcome Depression: A Guide for Parents

Robert B. MacIntyre, a former professor of psychology at the Ontario
Institute for Studies in Education, is head of the Centre for
Relationship Therapy and Education in Orangeville, Ontario.

This book is an up-to-date and comprehensive resource for parents
concerned about depression in their teenager. The author, a staff
physician at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and an associate
professor in Pediatrics at the University of Toronto, discusses the
nature of teen depression, what distinguishes it from depression in
adults, different types of depression and anxiety disorders, and various
treatments (including medications and psychotherapy), and related issues
such as substance abuse and suicide.

Depression in teenagers is a quite common condition, with between 15 to
20 percent having a diagnosable depression at some time in their teen
years and as many as 35 percent experiencing mild to moderate
depression. Although suicide is relatively rare among adolescents, with
about two percent making an attempt in these years, the rate of suicide
attempts has been going up since the 1950s and is linked both to
depression and to increased risk of adult suicide. Better and more
effective identification and treatment of depression could lead to a
decrease in the incidence or length of depression in both adolescents
and adults.

Kaufman’s broad expertise shows in this accessible and authoritative
book, which is recommended not only to parents of teenagers experiencing
depression, but to teens themselves and other adults involved in their
care.