An important discovery has been made at the University of Pittsburgh. It raises the prospect that there may be an entirely new way of relieving major depression in people who repeatedly have failed to respond to existing treatments—people at elevated risk for suicide whose lives are often unrelentingly dark and full of anguish.
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There was a longstanding belief that pre-pubescent children were too developmentally and cognitively immature to experience the core aspects of depression. In the mid-1980s research studies disputed those claims. By the late ‘80s, it was widely accepted that children ages six and older could experience clinical depression. Subsequently, treatment studies looked at various forms of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology for that age group. Recent studies, including ours at Washington University, have extended that story down to age three.
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Some of the most talked-about risk factors for depression, like genetics and the wiring of the brain, are not things that one can easily change. These are far from the only things that can contribute to depression, however, and within this complexity is a message of empowerment, according to Michael Berk, M.D. Ph.D.
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From The Quarterly, September 2016
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Depression is a problem often associated with adults, but young children can have the condition, too. In recent years, researchers have begun to understand how depression manifests in preschoolers, what it does to the brain, and how it may affect their future mental health.
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