Raising a Moody Child

How to cope with depression and bipolaar disorder

Mary A, Fristad & Jill S. Goldberg Arnold

How wise of the authors to call this book Raising a Moody Child. It is an eye-catching title and overcomes the barrier which so many of us have in accepting that children can, and do, get depressed and also suffer from bipolar disorder. Indeed, until the late 1980s medical wisdom dictated that children were too immature to be clinically depressed.

Depression in children is a complicated problem, partly because the symptoms can look so different from adults with mood disorders, and partly because as adults we are confused about what these signs actually mean. Therefore, a child may be thought to be impossible to handle, hostile, and even serious mood swings may be put down to ‘just being an adolescent’ or ‘a phase’.

The authors are American - and this shows in suggestions for resources and treatment - but this is a book which gets to the heart of the matter by describing just what are ‘mood disorders’, and in later chapters spells out the details of different depressive and bipolar illnesses.

Parents who struggle to help and understand their child, need all the support and information they can get. Some may be reassured to read ‘it’s not your fault’ but they, too, must know how to deal with their child’s symptoms. As with all psychological problems it is hard to get to the root of the causes and this book focuses on treating the symptoms, not curing the illness.

Don’t be discouraged by graphs and diagrams in the book. I found these visual aids most helpful in, for example, understanding the difference between normal fluctuations in mood and those of major depressions or bipolar disorders.

The authors pose the important question of why each generation has a higher rate of mood disorders, and for me the answers lie in not only in better detection of these disorders, but by increased stress in family life. More research is badly needed.

Raising a Moody Child also devotes space to related symptoms which worry parents and carers: anxiety disorders, phobias, eating disorders, stress disorders, panics, Asperger’s, ADHD and more, are carefully considered. If you need to know about medication and possible side-effects, and what to expect from therapy, you will find the information here.

This book succeeds in doing what it says it will. It says it clearly and in a way which will provide support and much need information for anyone who is helping a child with a mood disorder.

Published by Guilford    ISBN 1572308710

paperback    £13.00       $16.95    

available  from       

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Review published 16 June 2004 © Jill Curtis 2004