The new advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) says all children and young people suffering from mild depression should be offered “cognitive behavioural therapy” - delivered via mobile phones and tablets.
The guidance, for identifying and managing depression in children and young people aged five to 18, says online therapy and courses in mindfulness should be the first options for treatment of mild cases.
Nice said the programmes meant children could get faster access to psychological help, avoiding long waiting lists.
GPs will be able to recommend digital CBT programmes, which can be accessed via smartphones, computers and tablets.
Such programmes use interactive games, animations, quizzes, puzzles and interactive games, with questions to identify dysfunctional thinking and tasks to help challenge negative thoughts.
Other modules look at developing coping strategies, setting goals and finding ways to improve self esteem.
Some programmes alert children identified as having potentially suicidal thoughts to go back to their doctor or counsellor for more help.
The new guidance also recommends group cognitive behavioural therapy, and group sessions of mindfulness training as first-line treatments.
Nice said that these, along with digital options, should be offered by GPs and other health professionals if children had continuing symptoms of mild depression, but did not have suicidal thoughts or other significant health conditions.
Children should be given a choice of treatments, officials said.
And Nice said healthcare professionals working in schools as well as at GP practices should be trained to detect symptoms of depression in children as young as five.
The guidance has been fast-tracked amid warnings that the NHS has been left “picking up the pieces” of an epidemic of mental health problems, fuelled by social media.
Read more telegraph.co.uk
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