Engaging with young people and their networks to see new pathways to recovery from depression
In the UK, we are lucky that our government gives £717,000,000 a year for the funding of child and adolescent mental health services. However this is £50,000,000 less than in 2010 under the previous government. Even after seven years as a NHS Consultant, I cannot get severely depressed teenagers into therapeutic work promptly because we…
Naturally parents would be extremely stressed if they realised that their adolescent child was self-harming and/or troubled by suicidal thoughts especially if they had actually made suicide attempts. It is good practise to involve the parents in the treatment of their child’s depression (NICE 2013 update) from a clinical point of view. However, we cannot…
In the UK, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) produced Guideline CR192 to focus on the clinical management of antenatal and postnatal mental health. The focus of this document is the wide range of mental illnesses such as depression, psychosis, anxiety, eating disorders, drug and alcohol use disorders. 2.9 in 100 girls in the…
Happy New Year for 2015! 3% of all young people from the teenage years to young adulthood experience severe depression but only a quarter of individuals receive any kind of treatment. In my NHS practice in the UK I have been able to assess young people promptly when they have been referred in by their…
Depression is a description of mood, a diagnosis, and a state of mind at a particular time of wakefulness. Can you be depressed in your sleep? How is depression separated from normal adolescent misery? Is it OK to talk about depression? How do you talk about depression? Depression does actually affect sleep patterns. Many young…