How to recognize melancholy? The diagnosis of depression is made by a psychiatrist. There is a triad of symptoms, plus additional manifestations. Any of the manifestations, even a single one, should alert you. Perhaps there is no depression yet. But there are prerequisites. The child cannot cope with stress. He needs help and support. As the mother of one boy said: “My husband and I divorced, the child was stressed, so he began to tear out the hair on the top of his head. Prescribe us Phenibut.” Ignorance, fear or guilt of the mother herself stalled the appeal to a psychologist, trichologist/dermatologist. And the boy already has a receding hairline. Over the course of six months, I gradually tore out my hair, or maybe I didn’t, it’s not known for certain; perhaps it was some kind of skin disease (an examination by a trichologist will show). Here is the triad of symptoms: 1. A persistent and deep feeling of sadness or unhappiness.2. Loss of pleasure in daily activities (anhedonia). Chronic boredom or loss of interest in everyday activities. It became no longer interesting to go to clubs and sections. Sports, dancing, music do not bring any pleasure. Problems begin to arise in my studies. The desire to isolate yourself from everyone, from friends, loved ones, relatives.3. Irritability. Something strange is happening with behavior. Becomes more impudent in behavior, runs away from home, bullies other children, avoids school.Additionally:+ Negative thinking, low self-esteem.+ Hopelessness, unfounded ideas of guilt, remorse, worthlessness.+ Auto-aggression, self-harm (self-harm). He picks at hangnails to the meat, rips out hair, scissors with paper, a paper knife, scissors on his wrists, and inflicts pain on himself in any way in order to relieve stress. This is a red flag. That moment when you need to run to a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or at least a psychologist. + VSD symptoms: - weakness, lethargy, loss of energy, increased fatigue, decreased activity. - sleep-wake disturbance (sleeps longer than usual and misses school classes because of this). - loss of appetite. - frequent unexplained complaints of weakness, headaches, stomach pain. Every “VSD-person”, with the exception of somatic diseases (thyroid diseases, cardiovascular diseases, etc.), should register with a psychologist/psychotherapist, and not take courses of miracle nootropics like adults who “know” that cleaning blood vessels and brains with nootropics and “vascular” 2 times a year helps a lot (and it’s better not pills, but injections, and not intra-assisted, but intravenously, just to be sure). + Thoughts about death or suicide (suicidal ideas, suicidal attempts, suicides). This is already a loud siren.+ Abuse of alcohol or other psychoactive substances. Depression is difficult to treat. It is better when a psychiatrist engages in therapy together with a psychologist/psychotherapist. And vice versa, sometimes a psychologist cannot cope with psychotherapeutic methods alone; in some cases, drug treatment is required, and not with nootropics, but with antidepressants, which are selected by a psychiatrist.