abandoning the diagnosis will endanger severely depressed children

As a family therapist, I applaud Timimi's broadly systemic approach to childhood unhappiness.1 In my experience, young people aged 14-16 are most likely to present to clinicians with depression, and he is right to emphasise the sociocultural roots of their unhappiness. However, I am concerned at the underemphasis on possible consequences of depression, such as school failure, social withdrawal, antisocial behaviour, substance misuse, family disharmony, and suicide, which are more than just potential …