Conditions · Ages 6 to 60

Depression care for children, teens & adults

Depression is more than sadness, and in children and teens, sadness may be the last thing you see. It is a treatable medical condition, not a character flaw and not something anyone chooses. Here's how I look for it at every age, and what care looks like when we find it.

By age

Three ages, three different faces

Depression looks different at 8, at 15, and at 45, and the differences are exactly where it gets missed.

Children · ages 6 to 12

It often wears irritability, not sadness

Children rarely announce that they’re depressed. They show us instead. Often the first sign is a short fuse: a child who is suddenly cranky, touchy, or angry far more days than not. Watch too for boredom with games and friends they used to love, stomachaches and headaches with no medical explanation, slipping grades, and changes in sleep or appetite.

The sign that stops parents cold is the self-talk, said matter-of-factly, as if reporting the weather: “I’m stupid.” “Nobody likes me.” A child talking about themselves this way deserves a careful look, not reassurance alone.

Teens · ages 13 to 17

Watch the withdrawal, not just the mood

In teenagers, the clearest signal is often retreat: friends drop away, activities are given up one by one, the bedroom door stays closed. Sleep goes strange: much more of it, or barely any. Irritability and anger can dominate the picture, grades often slide, and hopeless talk (“what’s the point”) can be quiet and easy to miss.

Some of this is ordinary adolescence. What matters is the pattern, the persistence, and the change from who your teen was before. You know their baseline better than anyone; if the change worries you, it’s worth taking seriously.

Adults · ages 18 to 60

Sometimes loud, often quiet

In adults, depression can look like the classic picture (low mood, lost interest, exhaustion, guilt) or something much quieter: going through the motions competently while feeling very little, trouble concentrating that gets blamed on burnout or laziness, irritability that no one connects to mood.

Many adults describe it as some version of “I’m getting through the days, but I’m not in them.” That sentence is reason enough to talk to someone.

Depression, ADHD & autism

Missed on one side, mislabeled on the other

Depression rarely gets diagnosed in a vacuum. Some of the most consequential work happens before treatment starts: being sure of what is actually driving what.

With ADHD

Years of untreated ADHD can produce something that looks exactly like depression: the demoralization of a good mind that keeps underperforming itself. Treat only the mood, and the engine underneath keeps stalling. The reverse happens too: depression blunts concentration and motivation enough to be mislabeled as ADHD. The order matters, and finding it takes a careful history, not a checklist.

About ADHD care →

With autism

In autistic children and adults, depression is common and often missed, because it can show differently: deeper withdrawal, less speech, lost interest even in deeply loved routines, rather than visible tearfulness. And exhaustion from long stretches of masking or overload can be mistaken for depression when it calls for a different response. Reading these differences well is precisely what my autism fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital was for.

About autism care →

The whole person

The body gets looked at, too

Depression is a medical condition, and I approach it as a physician. Sleep is the first suspect: short or broken sleep can deepen, and sometimes drive, nearly everything on this page. Health factors matter too: medical conditions, treatments for other problems, nutrition, and how the body is doing overall shape mood more than most people expect.

So before adding anything to treat a symptom, I’d rather understand what’s feeding it. Sometimes the plan begins with a conversation with your primary care doctor or your child’s pediatrician. A plan that ignores the rest of someone’s health isn’t a complete plan.

Treatment

What care looks like here

An unhurried evaluation

The first appointment is 90 to 120 minutes, with your records (prior treatment notes, past evaluations, school reports) already read. We look at the whole picture: mood, sleep, health, history, and what changed.

One doctor, therapy coordinated

The physician who evaluates you is the physician who treats you. Therapy is often part of good depression care; I coordinate with your therapist so care pulls in one direction, or help you find one if you don’t have one yet.

Medication, when appropriate

Never a default, never rushed. When medication makes sense, we discuss it openly: what it’s for, what to expect, and how we’ll know whether it’s helping. I prescribe conservatively, with follow-ups close enough together to adjust thoughtfully.

An honest word about scope

Attuna is an outpatient practice, and I’m careful about what outpatient care can safely hold. Much of depression belongs in exactly this kind of setting. But when someone needs more support than outpatient visits can provide, for example when safety is a concern, I say so promptly and help connect you with the right level of care. That’s not a door closing; it’s part of taking depression seriously.

If you or someone you love is in crisis right now, don’t wait for an appointment or an email reply: call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.

You don’t need to arrive with the right words for what’s wrong. Sorting that out is my job, not yours. See how the process works →

Ready to begin?

Send the inquiry form and you will hear back within 3 business days. Dr. Ozdemir reviews every inquiry herself and confirms fit before anything is scheduled.

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