Depression

Depression in Children & Teenagers

Good parents encourage their children to talk about their worries from a very early age.Always listen and offer help.Children can quickly feel isolated.Misundersood and ignored if parents are preoccied with their own problems. It's difficult to pin down why children become depressed and often it is a combination of factors.But some classical situations seriously affect children and precipitate depression such as

Death in the family or that of a friend.

Bullying

Exam anxiety

Feeling ugly

Unsympathetic parents

Girls/boys don't like me - don't fit in

Parental illness

Parental discord & divorce

Tell-Tale signs for Parents

Parents often wonder what's going wrong with a child who seems out of sorts a lot of time.Here is a guide what to look out for

Babies & Toddlers

They can't tell us if they are sad,so they express themselves through their behaviour and become unresponsive,are clingy but can't accept comfort,refuse to eat,can't settle down to sleep

Pre-Schoolers

A few children can put their sad feelings into words.Children blame themselves if things go wrong and think they are wothless.Then their behaviour seems to ask for punishment,lying,stealing or playing truant from school.Remember that a naugthy,depressend child is not and intiately bad child

They might be tearful all the time

Stop eating

Wake up during the night

Have frequent nightmares and night terrors

Become very demanding and naughty

Reluctant to go to play-school / playgroup

Bully,hit and bite other children

Start telling lies

Behave destructively

School-Age Children

If they are depressed they may find it hard to concentrate and lose interest in schoolwork and play

Become loners

Refuse to go to school

Complain of feeling bored all the time

Say they are lonely

Lose confidence

Become difficult to control

Become slovenly

Adolescents

Almost without exception,adolescents go through periods of being moody and antisocial and it can be difficult to spot the difference between what's normal and what is depression

Look out for these signs of depression - 1 or 2 signs could be a passing phase,but 3,4 or more mean you should see your doctor

Being much more moody and irritable than normal

Become withdrawn,giving up friends and hobbies

Losing interest in or not doing so well at school

Taking no interest in hair,clothes or music

Not eating enough,even anorexia,or eating too much,even bullimia

Having low self-esteem

Not being able to get out of bed until mid-day

Getting into bad habits and bad company

Taking drugs

Getting drug

Becoming preoccupied with thoughts of death

Harming themselves by cutting their skin

Treatment

Getting professional help early form your GP for any child whose unhappiness is more than a passing phase - can often prevent longterm depression.The mainstay of treating childhood depression is what is called talk therapy,session with a psychotherapist,clinical psychologist or family therapist,where the child can vent their anger,frustration,fear and hopelessness

*Loving,caring attention is very powerful medicine for every depressed child*

How can Adults help ?

By themselves,children simply cannot make sense of feeling depressed,they feel helpless

Depressed children need a caring adult to take a loving interested in them and show understanding

Then they can help them deal with their feeling over time

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info source:

Dr Mirriam Stoppard