Table 8.

Treatment strategies for adolescent depression

Brief psychological therapies

• Cognitive behaviour therapy

• Interpersonal psychotherapy

Longer term psychotherapy

• Longer term psychodynamic therapies may be useful in more severe or persistent cases

Antidepressants

• Antidepressants are less effective in adolescents than in adults

• US and UK doctors have recently been warned that some selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may increase the risk of suicidal behaviour in adolescents. The only SSRI approved in the United Kingdom for adolescent depression is fluoxetine