According to a recent report by the United States Surgeon General, approximately 3.5 million children and teenagers suffer from depression. Adolescents who suffer from the disease may lose their capacity to feel joy, overcome developmental hurdles, and cultivate the self-esteem that will allow them to become happy, productive adults. At worst, depression can result in severe isolation and a sense of hopelessness that increases the risk of violence towards others or towards themselves.

The Centers for Disease Control report that among high-school age children in this country, there are an average of more than 1,000 suicide attempts a day. Despite the fact that depression is a factor in most of these cases, 80 percent of depressed teenagers get no treatment.

Clearly this is a public health problem of major proportions. But how to distinguish between normal teenage angst and a treatable illness?

In More Than Moody: Recognizing and Treating Adolescent Depression (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; $25.95), Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, one of the nation’s premier child and adolescent psychiatrists, explores and illuminates an under-recognized but growing problem in America today: depression among teenagers. Through his first-hand experience as a clinician and researcher, Koplewicz helps parents distinguish between normal teenage angst and true depression, a serious psychological illness with important long-term consequences. Dr. Koplewicz uses stories of real teenagers to show parents, teachers, health care professionals—and young adults themselves—the warning signs, risk factors, and key behaviors to look for. Furthermore, he outlines the options for treatment, which have broadened dramatically in recent years, with the expanded use of SSRI anti-depressants for young people as well as advances in such non-pharmaceutical approaches as cognitive behavior therapy.

More than Moody concludes with a look at the myths, facts and controversies surrounding the treatment of adolescent depression. Dr. Koplewicz provides the information needed to make informed decisions about treatment options, including the increased number of prescriptions of SSRI anti-depressants for use in treating young people, and presents cases in which various treatments have worked especially effectively. He examines the misconceptions that stigmatize teens that take psychiatric medications, and explores the public’s almost universal belief that teenagers should only turn to medication after psychotherapy fails,

explaining why it is based on outdated information. He looks at the encouraging results of specific, symptom-oriented treatments, including non-pharmaceutical approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT), and analyzes the latest studies comparing the effectiveness of medicine versus therapy. Above all he reflects on the role parents must play as advocates for their children, and the partnership that must exist between the parent, the teen, and the clinician.

Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D., is the founder and director of the New York University Child Study Center, and the Arnold and Debbie Simon Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vice-Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine, and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Bellevue Hospital Center. A multiple award-winning psychiatrist, he was named one of “America’s Best Mental Health Experts” by Good Housekeeping magazine, one of America’s top doctors by Castle Connolly, and one of the “Best Doctors in New York” by New York magazine.

Widely known as an advocate for children with mental illnesses, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. He is the author of It’s Nobody’s Fault: New Hope and Help for Difficult Children and Their Parents. Dr. Koplewicz lives in Manhattan with his wife and their three sons.#

More Than Moody: Recognizing and Treating Adolescent Depression

By Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D.

G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Price: $25.95