Teenagers are moody. Absolutely. Fluctuations in hormones cause angry outbursts, irritability, emotional hysteria, defiant behavior, and weepiness. So it’s very difficult to tease apart teenage drama from legitimate depression and other mood disorders. However, it’s worth the effort because depression and other mood disorders that begin in adolescence often become much more serious and difficult...

Today’s interview is with Tracy Thompson, the author of “The Beast: A Journey Through Depression” and “The Ghost in the House: Motherhood, Raising Children, and Struggling with Depression.” She has won numerous mental health awards, including one from NAMI for her “lasting contributions to mental health issues.”   Question: The first two sentences of your...

Sometimes God uses you own words with which to knock you over the head. Today I read a meaningful email by someone who had read my book. She said it was the passage on page 120 to 121 that provided the epiphany moment she needed to seek help for her mood disorder. I was curious...

Dan Fields, a consultant to the Grief Support Services of the Samaritans, recently crafted a beautiful piece that articulates what his dysthymia feels like. I think his description does a better job of communicating the subtle signs of male depression than any list of symptoms I could throw at you. I have excerpted his profile...

Depression never happens in a vacuum. Like a ripple in the water, a parent’s illness can’t help but affect her offspring. Different studies have documented how depression in a new mother clearly affects her interactions with her baby or toddler. Depressed mothers are more withdrawn, less responsive to their infant’s signals. “Their facial expressions and...