Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally
toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that
adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to19 than cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work, and personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because “children are not always able to express how they feel.” Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman observed that the “challenge is to identify depressive sympto matology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, development storm.” Therefore, diagnosis should not lay only in the physician’s hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. In stead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors