Depression is on the rise in kids—but the signs are hard to recognize

To a certain extent, things like anger, defiance and moodiness are to be expected—all of us have good days and bad, especially in the turbocharged period of adolescence. But what sets depression apart is when these issues occur most of the time, says Ashley Miller, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Clinic at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. “If a kid is grouchy when they come home from school, but then they recover by dinner and they’re fine with their friends, then it’s obviously not depression,” she says. “But if you are seeing real changes, then dig a bit deeper.”