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Source – NICE - The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health have launched a clinical guideline on the treatment and management of depression in children and young people.
The guideline recommends that –
Children and young people with moderate to severe depression should be offered, as a first-line treatment, a specific psychological
therapy (such as cognitive behavioural therapy, interpersonal therapy or family therapy of at least 3 months duration)
Antidepressant medication should not be offered to children or young people with moderate to severe depression except in combination
with a concurrent psychological therapy and should not be offered at all to children with mild depression.
Healthcare professionals in primary care, schools and other relevant community settings should be trained to detect symptoms of
depression, and to assess children and young people who may be at risk of depression.
Attention should be paid to the possible need for parents’ own psychiatric problems (particularly depression) to be treated in
parallel, if the child or young person’s mental health is to improve.
For more information go to: http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=273116
Prepared by Susan Wileman Medicines Information Technician
Date of Preparation: 29th September 2005
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