Question

A 14-year-old boy describes himself as feeling "down" all of the time for the past year. He remembers feeling better while he was at camp for 4 weeks during the summer; however, the depressed mood returned when he came home. He reports poor concentration, feelings of hopelessness, and low self-esteem but denies suicidal ideation or changes in his appetite or sleep. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Answer 1

The question is incomplete as it does not have the option which are:

1. Major depressive disorder

2. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder

3. depressive disorder with short duration hypomania

4. Dysthymia

5. Schizoaffective disorder

Answer:

4. Dysthymia

Explanation:

Dysthymia or persistent depressive disorder is a long term depression disorder or mood which leads to the symptoms of depression like a sad mood which directly affects the social life like in school or at home or work.

The person with dysthymia feel low-self esteem, inadequate and lose interest in normal activities and the symptoms may last for a year but the symptoms continuously do not last for more than two months.

In the given question, the boy feels that he feels down, depressed mood, hopelessness which are the symptoms of the dysthymia in the early stages.

Thus, Option-4 is the correct answer.