Childhood sleep problems are common, and most practitioners wind up prescribing or recommending something for sleep for a significant portion of their patients.
Insomnia and sleep disturbance are common symptoms of depression in adults, but this is not always the case in adolescents. In fact, a group of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh who studied insomnia in depressed teens found that, compared to adults, insomnia in adolescents is different—very different.
The Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS) taught us that fluoxetine (Prozac) plus cognitive behavioral therapy was superior to medication alone or placebo for short-term recovery from major depressive disorder (MDD). But TADS didn’t tell us anything about long-term recovery.
The gold standards of treatment for ADHD are the stimulants amphetamine and methylphenidate. They are old friends, having been used for decades, and there is a wealth of patient experience with them. Although we use them all the time, an occasional review of the tools in our toolbox is always helpful.