Is my Child Depressed?
About 2% of school-age children (6-12 years of age) appear to have major depression at any one time. With puberty, the rate of depression increases to about 4% (Wiley, 2009). It is a parents responsibility to make sure their child is healthy physically and mentally. Children who have depression do less academically, go through mental turmoil, have broken friendships and family ties, and are more likely to attempt and complete suicide. There are effective therapies, thus it is not reasonable to ignore it and hope for the best while the child suffers. If a child is depressed it doesn't reflect one's parenting skills, a parent can be doing everything “right” and a child can still become depressed. Being a parent is difficult and it is important not to be so hard on yourself if your child is experiencing depression. What is more important is how you react to the situation.
Symptoms of a depressed child could be; acting ill, refusing to attend school, clinging to their parents, or worrying that their parents might pass away. Elderly kids can act grumpy, get into problems at school, be gloomy and agitated, and feel misinterpreted. For both boys and girls, teenage depression strikes during a time of significant inner disruption as they are forging their own identities independent from their parents, figuring out gender roles and their sexuality, and making important life decisions for the first time.
Psychotherapy: Interpersonal therapy (IPT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are the two distinct psychotherapies that have been shown to be effective in treating children and/or adolescents. The goal of CBT is to modify the negative attributional bias also known as the "seeing-half-empty" mentality—that is linked to major depressive disorder.
Pharmacotherapy: It seems that a number of drugs work well to treat pediatric depression. Consult your child's doctor about the suggested drugs for treating depression in kids.
These days, a lot of depression drugs have warnings about an elevated risk of suicide thoughts or actions, especially in young people..It can be hard for a parent to understand why their child is feeling this way but not talking about a child's mental health will only lead to later issues.
-Written by Jillian Falvo, undergraduate intern