Three iIIustrative cases of children with depression managed at the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur; showed similar features of depressive illness and the association with family problems and depressed parents as described in Western countries. The Multi-Axia System of classification (MAS), as suggested in a WHO publication provided a useful means of classification as well as management. Two of the axes are biological and psycho-social factors in the aetiology of psychiatric syndromes (the third axis) and the intellectual level (the second axis of the child). Appropriate counselling of the parents is an important part in the management of depression in children.