ROB was 14 years old when he started becoming withdrawn and his schoolwork began to suffer. His parents asked if anything was wrong, but he would not open up to them.

They noticed their son was losing weight. He did not wash, would not have his hair cut and took to wearing black clothes all the time.

That might sound normal to many parents of adolescent boys, but Rob's parents, James and Linda, of West Dorset, were deeply concerned.

"We had to bribe him to get his clothes off him, and to have a shower. He was permanently looking towards the floor. He became nocturnal," recalled James.

Rob's parents found out he had been playing truant. He was asked to leave school because of his behaviour.

"He was just getting worse and worse. We quizzed him about alcohol, drugs, girls," said Linda.

"He was getting violent at home. The younger children could never bring their friends home because they never knew what sort of a mood he was going to be in."

At one stage she found a note in Rob's room saying 'please help me: 'I'm going to die'. He was also cutting himself. His parents sought help from their GP, but matters came to a head before he could be seen by a specialist.

"Eventually he tried to strangle me and was arrested and sectioned (detained under the Mental Health Act). It was a big relief. We had tried to get him some help and now we knew he was going to get it," said Linda.

It emerged that Rob had been bullied at school, his downward spiral of depression worsening after he was rejected by a girl.

After a five-month stay in a psychiatric unit, he was allowed home. Now 17, he is living in lodgings and receiving therapy in Poole.

Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust, which provides mental health services in East Dorset, sees children as young as primary school age with depression. Symptoms can include tearfulness, change in behaviour, going off food and disturbed sleep.

Figures suggest that one in every 200 children under 12 and one in five teenagers is depressed. The organisers of National Depression Week*, which starts on Monday and is themed Youth at Risk, point out that a fifth of deaths in young people are from suicide.

Since 1990, attempted suicide by youngsters has risen by 50 per cent. On average, more than two young people a day in Britain and Ireland succeed in killing themselves.

Senior nurse specialist Helen Duncan-Jordan and consultant psychologist Laila Jamil believe some children are more susceptible to depression than others, with factors such as school pressures, being bullied, family breakdown, bereavement or illness providing common triggers.

"Personality types are there from birth.

"Some people have a predisposition to view the world in a particular way," said Helen.

Laila added: "Depression is quite healthy in adolescence, it's generally the length of time spent in it that's unhealthy.

"Part of adolescence is about moving away from your parents into a social group. There's a loss in that that's part of the normal process of growing up and leaving behind your childhood.

"That gets expressed in morose clothes and being argumentative. But if you have youngsters so angstridden and caught up in the blackness of life that they are sitting in their bedrooms, not joining in, then you've got a problem."

Laila advises parents worried about their teenagers to create opportunities to talk, and to seek advice from the school nurse or GP. "In Dorset, we are trying to develop more and more services in GP practices. It's about accessing help early," she said.

Names in case study have been changed.

www.depressionalliance.org

Don't worry help is near

IF you are female and have stress, worry, anxiety, isolation, bereavement, depression or other problems, you are not on your own.

Women in Mind runs a series of free support groups in the area where people can share their feelings, find out about alternative and conventional therapies, and try different activities.

The Southbourne group in Bournemouth began 10 years ago and, like the other groups, is now under the wing of Pepa Dominguez.

She stressed: "Women coming here don't have to have psychiatric problems. They could just be having a bad patch in their lives.

"We usually start with sharing our feelings and asking how the week went, then talk about specific subjects that naturally come up. After the break, sometimes we do different activities. It's really up to the group what they want to do."

Among the longterm attenders has been Joyce. "We've had all sorts of people with all sorts of problems here," she said. "I've benefited from it very much - I've found companionship, friends and advice.

"I had manic depression when my first child was born and I really appreciate what Mind has done for me since I've been in Bournemouth. My son was a heroin addict for quite a few years and I found it helped coming to the group and getting it off my chest." Another user of the group is Val, who has herself suffered from depression. "It's not a group for people who are mentally ill - it's for any sort of woman who feels she might benefit," she said.

"It's good to have somewhere where you can talk to other people.

"Sometimes you find out they have been through the same problem. We hope the group will be flexible enough that if someone has a particular problem, we can discuss it."

Women in Mind groups meet on Mondays from 2-4pm at Kinson Community Centre, Pelhams Park, Bournemouth; Tuesdays 10.30am12.30pm at Beaufort Community Centre, Beaufort Road, Southbourne, Bournemouth; and Wednesdays 24pm at the Salvation Army Hall, Hill Street, Poole.

For more details, contact Pepa on 01202 392910 or 07949 771787.