That may have worked for you but for most kids who are depressed the last thing I would recommend would be to send them to some camp or to some foreign country, it just will not work. They need medical care, therapy, and their family is usually a huge contributing factor to their depression and also needs to be included in family therapy. They don't need harsh discipline, rather the opposite, they don't need typical discipline, rather something worked out between the family, the therapist, and the child.

Parents should never give up on a child. Ever, especially when they are under the age of 18. They have no right. That should not even be considered an option. Oh I get being exhausted and having the feeling of wanting to give up, but actually giving up, well that should never happen.

A lot of the times in situations like these families try to focus on fixing the bad depressed child in the family when truthfully the entire family could use some work, and there is nothing wrong with suggesting the mother become more educated on depression or getting her child psychologically evaluated, getting second or third opinions by psychologists, new medications, family therapy, new therapists, new medications, a better understanding, more empathy, instead of referring to her severely mentally ill depressed child as a grouchy party pooper who is clearly headed for much worse in the future. I would rather the mother do the things I suggest than do what you said which were to send the child to camp (when the child is clearly uncomfortable in social situations, you don't force kids like this into these things) or to use harsh discipline on depressed kids like this.