Depressions in mid-childhood In the current rash of preoccupation with depressive phenomena in infancy, adolescence and adulthood, the middle years of development are often slighted. Depressive man...

Depressions in Childhood and Adolescence

A controversy exists regarding the classification of nonorganic failure to thrive within the psychiatric nomenclature. There are a number of DSM-III-R diagnoses that may be applied to NOFTT, including Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy (RADI) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The behaviors characteristic of NOFTT are symptomatic of depression, and are similar to those exhibited by infants with anaclitic depression as well as those of the adult with depression. The correspondence of the behaviours of NOFTT and the DSM-III-R criteria for Major Depression are reviewed, as are the conceptual and therapeutic reasons to view NOFTT infants as suffering from Depression.

Infantile depression, nonorganic failure to thrive, and DSM-III-R: a different perspective.

Anaclitic depression. A follow-up from infancy to puberty.

/pdf/the-effects-of-a-child-s-serious-illness-upon-his-or-her-iiwiqzcl9l.pdf

The Effects of a Child's Serious Illness Upon His or Her Siblings

This paper examines the author's treatment of a severely depressed mother–infant pair in a therapeutic nursery. While the direct treatment lasted only nine months, a telephone relationship has continued over fifteen years. Dramatic changes in the pair resulted from the strong therapeutic alliance between mother and therapist, combined with a flexible and adaptive approach, utilizing “on demand” availability, as described by Winnicott. The convergence of the clinical work with the maturational processes and the sequelae of both mother and infant's early experiences of deprivation are described and explored.

/pdf/early-intervention-with-a-mother-infant-pair-the-impact-of-4qrd5x8d17.pdf

Joan Davidson

Papers

Infantile depression in a “normal” child