Rethinking childhood depression: Summary of responses

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7488.418-c

BMJ 2005;330:418-419 (19 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7488.418-c

Letter

Rethinking childhood depression

Summary of responses

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Timimi argues that unhappiness among children seems to be rising,but labelling it as depression and prescribing antidepressantsis ineffective and possibly harmful: it is time to focus onthe underlying reasons. Many respondents agree, but whetherthe term depression is apt, whether what is under discussionis a disease or a normal reaction to life's events, and whetherthe normal range of human emotion is being made into a diseaseare debated.¹ The role of the family and what family life teacheschildren, the impact of the mass media and consumerism, theimportance of nutrition, the diversion of resources in a cashstrapped health service, politics, and toxic environments aresome of the factors singled out as influencing children's healthand wellbeing.

Several respondents explicitly reject drugs as a treatment modality—somethingwhich is taken up in the responses to the commentary by Wilkinson²—citinga press release from the . . . [Full text of this article]

Birte Twisselmann, technical editor

BMJ