Anxiety, depression and eating disorder or just "normal" teenage phase?

[Canadawet]

DS 14 is tearful for a yes or a no (didn't want to go to tennis after school and bursted into tears for example), is really skinny but says he's fat and hardly eats anything at home and leaves half of his packed lunch untouched, but his school bag has wrappers of massive bags of crisps and he will happily go to McDonald's with friends. Spends way too much time on his PC playing online games with friends, hardly talks except the odd "sure" or "OK" and I don't know if I should be concerned or not. The tears were worrying this morning but he might have gone to sleep very late, I need to double check that. Thanks for your thoughts,

Engage with the school. Sadly, secondary schools have lots of experience of dealing with teens with anxiety and depression.

Can you get him to the GP? If so, express concerns that he's not eating properly and encourage him to be honest about how he's feeling. There is an anti-depressant that can be given to under-16-year-olds although it would need to go via a psychiatrist.

Try to encourage him to be outside more if you possibly can. The more he's outdoors and not stuck on games and social media, the better.

Thanks, I have emailed the school in the meantime and the head of pastoral care called me back, DS will see the nurse for body weight measurements and discussion about food and he will see their psychologist a few times to determine if this is serious or not and if we need medical advice. I was impressed and reassured by their prompt response I have to say. I will introduce a curfew for screens and make sure he sleeps enough.