Interviewers' notes about section H: Depression
Just as in adults, depression in children and teenagers usually shows
itself as severe and prolonged misery. Sometimes, though, the most
obvious change in mood is not misery but increased irritability. This
can be very tricky to judge since plenty of teenagers are irritable
with their family! You need to focus on whether they have recently
changed to being a lot more grumpy or irritable than in the past.
In some cases, the most obvious clue to depression is neither misery
nor irritability but a loss of interest in the things that the child
used to enjoy doing. Perhaps the child has kept his or her misery
secret, but the family may still have noticed that the child suddenly
no longer wants to visit friends, go on outings, listen to music, or
whatever.
There are three initial parts to section H:
If there are real problems in any of these areas, you will need to ask
question H18 to H21. Because question H18 covers deliberate self-harm,
you won�t need to ask the separate questions on the same topic in
questions H22 to H24.
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Last modified : 05/09/09
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