In many cases, it disappears. About 90% of the time it is gone within one year. Sometimes it disappears without any treatment at all. That is the good news.

The bad news is that depression in children is recurrent. That is, even after a child recovers, he or she is much more likely to get depressed again. About 35% will again meet the criteria for Major Depression within a year from recovering. By two years, half of the children who recovered will have had a recurrence of their depression. About 75% of children will have a recurrence of their depression within four years of their first episode. Each time depression recurs, it makes it that much more likely that it will recur again.

Children are more likely to have their depression recur if they started having depression before age 14, if there is divorce at the time of the depression, or if one of the parents is also depressed at the same time. No one can predict exactly who will have another episode of depression and who will not. Some of the predictors for another episode of depression are: one parent has been clinically depressed, one parent has another psychiatric problem other than depression, and the child has other psychiatric disorders (like attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, or anxiety disorders). If all three of these are present, it is almost certain that a teenager will develop another episode of depression over the next 4 years. If a child lives in a family with a lot of conflict, they are more likely to relapse.

Why should you treat depression, since most people recover from it spontaneously?

If your child's depression resolves on its own, you are right. But, if it goes on very long or recurs, that means that your child is more likely to get an episode of severe depression or chronic depression. The longer depression goes on, the harder it is to treat. The longer it goes on, the more it damages the social, academic, psychological maturation of your child. Depression is a horrible problem in children and adolescents. The only thing more horrible is doing nothing about it.

next: Treating Depressed Children