In recent years, the rate of depression in childhood has increased. Still millions of people around the world doubt if children can get depressed. Read this informative blog, It will help to reduce the child depression problem and your child do not feel sad, lonely, or depressed.
What do they have to get the feeling of depression?
They are so young and at the time of their age, we used to be very happy.
If your child constantly seems to be sad and it is affecting the relationships, they could suffer from serious mental health conditions and childhood depression and are required to be medically treated.
Fortunately, health care professionals may efficiently treat and manage children’s mental health problems such as childhood depression with psychotherapy and medication.
POSSIBLE REASONS BEHIND CHILDHOOD DEPRESSION
The reasons for the problem of childhood depressions are still not known. It could be due to a combination of some factors that are related to health, family history, genetic vulnerability, biochemical disturbance in the body, or environment.
SYMPTOMS AND WARNING SIGNS OF DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN
Irrespective of the age, general symptoms of the depressive episode include to have a depressed mood and severe difficulty in experiencing pleasure for a minimum of two weeks and having a minimum of five of the following symptoms:
- Changes in sleeping patterns like sleeping in excess or trouble in sleep
- Sudden change in appetite even with or without any weight loss, or gaining excessive weight.
- Loss of energy or fatigue
- Inability to concentrate
- Thoughts to commit suicide
- The Feeling of being excessively guilty, or worthless
Other Symptoms:
- Constant boredom
- A rapid feeling of anger
- Having physical complaints frequently such as stomach ache and headache
- Hindered school performance
- Showing less concern for their own safety
- Crying easily and more often
- Withdrawal of oneself from society and away from friends, youth spends more time being alone
- Enhanced sensitivity to negative comments
DIAGNOSIS OF DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN
The medical practitioner who has been consulted to assess a child is likely to perform a medical interview and a physical examination to diagnose.
The state of depression is also associated with some other mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress (PTSD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, autism-spectrum disorders, and anxiety disorders. Therefore, the evaluator will screen for symptoms of maniac depression that is a bipolar disorder.
Depression in children could be also linked with a number of medical problems, or it could be a side-effect of some medications, or over-exposure to some toxins or drugs. So, the health care professionals perform some regular laboratory tests at the time of initial assessment to rule out some other reasons for symptoms.
Some of the time, it is mandatory to perform an X-ray, scan, or another imaging study. During the evaluation criteria, the patient could be asked some series of a questionnaire to analyze the risk of suicide and depression.
ROLE OF PARENTS AFTER SUSPECTING THEIR CHILDREN WITH DEPRESSION
The family members and friends must take mental health treatment for the child suffering from depression. The parents must consult primary care doctors or may take mental health care services. When the child receives the treatment, parents must pay close attention to the diet of the child that includes the healthiest food for kids, sufficient water intake, exercising regularly, remaining socially active, and engage him/her in stress management activities.
Researchers have found that the positive influence of exercise on mood is much more than as per assumption being a part of a healthy lifestyle. Parents can also help the depressed child by discouraging him/her from getting engaged in risky behaviors.
TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN
If the child is suffering from any clinical depression, it is a recommendation of a health care professional to take a treatment. The treatment options include lightening the medical treatment that may worsen depression.
If the symptoms are much severe that only treatment with medication is suitable, the symptoms are likely to enhance faster for a longer time when the medication is done with the help of psychotherapy.
When a child suffering from depression is treated, it may have positive effects on the functioning of a child with his family members, peers, and at school. Without undergoing the treatment, the symptoms may last longer and the condition of a child may exacerbate. With proper treatment, the chances of recovery get improved significantly.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
This is a type of mental health counseling that is conducted by a trained therapist to plot the possible ways to deal with the problems and to cope with depression. It could be an effective intervention that may result in positive biochemical alterations in the brain.
Musical therapies and infant massage are useful in the case of babies. The common types of psychotherapy that are performed to treat childhood depression are:
- Interpersonal psychotherapy
- Cognitive psychotherapy
INTERPERSONAL THERAPY (IPT)
This category of psychotherapy alleviates symptoms of depression by assisting a child with depression to develop more effective skills to tackle their relationships and emotions.
Strategies used in IPT
- The first and basic strategy is to educate the child, parents, or family members to understand the nature of depression.
- Another strategy is to assist a child to set the goals to solve the problems and using distinct treatment techniques to reach those goals.
COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT)
This method assists to lower depression and ensures that the condition won’t affect the child again. In CBT, three techniques are used by the therapists:
- Didactic Component
This technique aids to maintain positive expectations for the ongoing treatment and boost the active participation of the child in the treatment.
- Cognitive component
This stage boosts identifying the assumptions that play a crucial role in the behavior of the child.
- Behavioral Component
In this technique, the behavior-modification method is used to make the child understand the more effective methods to cope with the problems.
