Childhood depression is something that we do not always expect but need to be careful to watch out for. If left untreated this can result in a lifetime of ongoing mental health problems for the child and can even develop into something more serious.
The symptoms are:
1. Withdrawal
2. Irritability: they may be emotionally withdrawn and lash out suddenly.
3. Not wanting to do anything or participate in things that they formally enjoyed
4. Sad and prone to cry, seemingly without reason
5. Not thinking as clearly as they used to
6. Just feeling worthless
7. Not open to discussion
8. Can be suicidal
9. Children with depression can often seek to harm themselves physically. They can start cutting themselves and harming themselves in other ways. This can become a habit with a child and they will start to feel satisfaction when they feel pain.
There can be several reasons for this and it is important to find out the cause of childhood depression:
Sometimes there is no apparent cause as it is a chemical imbalance in the brain that is triggering depression. This can sometimes be hereditary.
1. A traumatic event either witnessed in real life or seen on TV can cause depression in a child. They are more sensitive at this age and can be affected by events that might not seem very traumatic to you.
2. Abuse is a common cause of depression in children.
3. Neglect can make a child feel very depressed and unloved
4. Schoolwork or peers at school can also trigger childhood depression.
There can be many causes for your child’s depression but the important thing is to take action. If no action is taken the events causing the problem may be come buried so deep in your child’s subconscious that they will be hard to find and deal with. Your child may become a chronic depressive. This can effect them their whole life, destroying relationships and effecting everyone around them. They may even start contemplating suicide.
Some serious mental health problems can arise from childhood depression if it is not treated so it is wise to seek treatment early. A normal child should not be experiencing depressive symptoms and you can do something about it. These days there is a lot more help available and childhood depression is treatable and often curable. So do not just wait for it to go away because this is a problem that does not usually resolve itself. Seek help from a therapist who specializes in childhood depression as soon as you can.
