Recognition of childhood depression: Personal reminiscences

Abstract

Prior to 1970, childhood depression was not considered a valid clinical entity by American psychiatrists. One of the early clues was provided in the 1950s by the author’s observation of depressive symptoms in children and young adolescents with undescended testicles. This finding was extended to children with several chronic diseases, many of whom exhibited depressive symptoms as well. Eventually, depressive symptomatology was found in children without any physical disorders. This was followed by the introduction of a diagnostic instrument, called the Children’s Affective Rating Scale (CARS), later converted into a more formal system called the Child Assessment Schedule (CAS). A provisonary classification of childhood depression was published in 1972. Our examination of children with depressive disorders has revealed several modes of family interaction, of which the most important were: separation from important love objects; depreciation and rejection; and affective disorders in parents. Several children with bipolar disorder stimulated our interest in this disorder and led to a pilot study of children of bipolar, lithium-responding parents. Some of these children with bipolar illness had a clear-cut response to lithium and were strong augmenters of the average evoked potentials (EPs). Next, our group investigated the urinary excretion of norepinephrine and its metabolites in chronically depressed children who differed from a normal control group. The foregoing studies, along with major contributions by other child psychiatrists, eventually led to the acceptance of childhood depression as a clinical entity in US psychiatry. The acceptance of juvenile bipolar disorder had to await further research by a new generation of child and adult psychiatrists.