Childhood Depression

It is difficult to pin down why children become depressed and often it is a combination of factors. But some classical situations seriously affect kids and precipitate depression, such as:

Parents often wonder what is wrong with a child who seems out of sorts a lot of time.

Here is a guide to what to look out for:

Babies and toddlers

They can not tell us if they are sad, so they express themselves through their behavior and

become unresponsive
are clingy but can not accept comfort
refuse to eat
can not settle down to sleep.

Preschoolers might

be tearful all the time
stop eating
wake up during the night
have frequent nightmares and night terrors
become very demanding and naughty
bully, hit and bite other kids
start telling lies
behave destructively.

A few children can put their sad feelings into words, like:'The world does not feel right, mum.' Children quickly blame themselves if things go wrong and think they are worthless. Then their behavior seems to ask for punishment - lying, stealing or playing truant from school.

Remember - a naughty, depressed child is not an innately bad child!

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.

By themselves children simply can not make sense of feeling depressed, they feel helpless. Depressed children need a caring adult to take a loving interest in them and show understanding. Loving, caring attention is a very powerful medicine for every depressed child. Then they can help them deal with their feelings over time.

Good parents encourage their children to talk about their worries from a very early age, always listen and offer help. Children quickly feel isolated, misunderstood and ignored if parents are preoccupied with their own problems.

Use our online child depression test to scale depression in child and adolescent.

Related Pages in this site:

Nurture Your Child Not Your Ego
Parents should never allow their egos to become wrapped up in their child. Many parents measure their own value and success by their children's successes and failures.

Do you have your own experience with childhood depression? How could you recognize it? What treatments, ways of healing have you tried? Which one was successful?

Let us know your story... It would be extremely useful for other parents.

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Childhood Depression

Babies and toddlers

Preschoolers might

School-age children

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