Depression in Adolescent Headache Patients

Abstract

A study of 28 patients aged between 13-18 years with chronic daily headache revealed that 86% of them were diagnosed as depressed based upon psychological evaluation. Instruments that were best able to evaluate depression in this population were identified. These tended to be more projective in nature since teenagers typically did not readily admit to being depressed. A treatment model utilizing antidepressant medication prophylactically, biofeedback, and psychotherapy is proposed in order to alleviate depression and help achieve normal functioning as quickly as possible.