It worries me that a child should be diagnosed with anxiety and depression simply on the basis that they find school too much for them. It is about context. If that child is obviously anxious and depressed at home, then that is fair enough; but if it applies specifically to the school context, then the child does not warrant that diagnosis. School (or that particular school) is not right for them.
Nightowl - how very harrowing for you and your OH and your child to have to go through such a dreadful experience just to get the problem taken seriously. I am glad that all turned out well in the end.
At one stage I had a child who dreaded and hated school and believe me, the saying that a family is only as happy as its saddest member is certainly very true! The basic problem was that the school was not meeting her needs - they expected her to be academic, when she was artistic, musical, fanciful and living in a happy dream world - as well as having a degree of dyslexia. Going to school to be made to feel a fool day after day was intolerable to her, as it would be to any adult if that were transposed to the work context.
Children are not bred to go to school - it is not a natural phenomenon - and not all of them will be able to tolerate it. They do not need to have a diagnostic label stuck on them because they are simply themselves. They need the adults around them to find a way of them receiving an education in a way that suits them.
BBC Radio 4Extra Scheduling Shake-Up.