Childhood Depression

How severe is Childhood Depression?


child depressionChildhood depression, depression and children or child depression sounds very strange.

It is difficult to pin down why children become depressed and often it is rather a combination of factors.

 

 



But some classical situations may seriously affect kids and precipitate child depression, such as:

  • death in the family

  • bullying

  • exam anxiety

  • feeling ugly

  • unsympathetic parents

  • girls/boys do not like me

  • parental illness

  • parental discord.

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 childhood depression symptom:

 

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.

Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it. Harold Hulbert

 

 

 

 

 

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 childhood depression test to scale depression in child and adolescent.

 

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? Share your story...


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How many kids are depressed?

Over 11 million prescriptions were written last year for kids with depression. That did not include those who didn't even see a doctor. Researchers believe depression affects 3 percent to 5 percent of preteens and up to 15 percent of adolescents with girls suffering from depression at twice the rate of boys. In an alarming study by Seventeen Magazine, 28 percent of girls said they feel depressed every day or at least a few times a week.