An educational charity is training non-specialist youth mentors who support care-experienced young people. The charity wants to create a guidance sheet explaining how to recognise when a young person might be struggling with an affective disorder, such as major depressive disorder. The guidance must be compassionate, clear, and avoid dense clinical terminology, while still accurately reflecting major diagnostic features.
Describe the characteristic features of an affective disorder (such as major depressive disorder) in a way that would be appropriate for this mentor guidance sheet.
