Skip to main content

IS YOUR CHILD GOING THROUGH DEPRESSION?


Depression is a serious mental health disease and not just a “dull or low phase” in life or momentary sadness or grief. As opposed to popular belief it is not really in your control. It affects your behaviour, the way you feel and think. It affects not only your mental and emotional state but also affects you physically. Like adults, even children can become victims of depression. There is no set structure to depression, it varies from person to person and the same goes with children. As compared to adults, the symptoms of depression are slightly different in children. A lot of times depression in children go undiagnosed because their symptoms are passed off as puberty issues. Even though you feel like you might be able to help your child, a child psychologist is more qualified and equipped than you to help your child. A child suffering from depression is not going to be able to fathom and communicate what he/she is going through to you effectively without professional help.

These are a few signs that indicate your child is suffering from depression and needs child therapy-
-      Your child who once enjoyed playing with his/her friends, is unable to connect with them and does not like playing with them anymore. Even toys do not give him satisfaction and he rarely play with them.

-      Their eating habits and appetite have changed significantly which may result in a sudden gain or loss in their weight.

-      They have expressed feelings of wanting to run away from your house to you or other family members.

-      They are unable to concentrate on their studies, their grades have been unexpectedly dropping, they do not respect or have been challenging school authorities and/or misbehaving in school.

-      Therapy can help if there has been a recent death in your family and your child does not seem to be functioning well since then.

-      They do not get satisfaction from participating in activities that they once loved and enjoyed.

-      Their sleep patterns have drastically changed. Maybe they stay up way beyond their bed time because they are unable to fall asleep. Or they sleep-in way more than they usually did and find it difficult to get out of bed.

-      They have become lethargic and get tired easily by doing tasks they once effortlessly did.

-      They complain of body aches, cramps or headaches often without there being an underlying cause.

-      Keeps to himself/herself and seems disconnected from the family and does not enjoy attending family functions or interacting with family members.

-      They have developed a negative outlook on life and/or they feel hopeless.

-      When probed, he/she is not able express the reasons behind their change in behaviour.

-      They unexplainably cry or are easily overwhelmed.

-      They indulge in self-harm or thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

If your child has showed any of the above symptoms, then you should be alarmed because your child is in need of professional depression help. Times have changed and even the Indian society is steadily realizing that mental health, especially in children is a serious issue. So please don’t sit back and expect your child to just “get over it”, take action and get them the help that they need.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MENDING AND HEALING RELAITONSHIPS

There is no relationship in the world that does not face problems between the two people. When we talk about a relationship, we have to keep in mind that we are talking about two different individuals coming together to form a beautiful bond of love. Two people with different ideologies and different thinking striving to be accommodating of each other’s needs and maintaining a balance in their own. This system of accommodating and acceptance is going to have a little bit of friction leading to minor fights. But what is important, is how the two people make up after the fight and whether they accept and move on from the incident. Sometimes, a fight or a situation can be so gruesome that both or one of the individuals cannot let go of it. That is when they need the help of a relationship advisor who may be a friend close to the family, a family member or a professional who is trained to deal with couples’ issues on a daily basis. This relationship advisor’s main aim is to first...
Post a Comment
Read more

COMBATTING DEPRESSION WITH FAMILY’S HELP

Feeling sad is normal. We all feel sad from time to time. The reasons for this sadness may vary. Death or loss of a close one, break up, failure, fight, are some of the instances that make us sad as humans. But eventually, we learn to accept the facts of what has happened, and we move on. Gradually, you feel better and you start living normally again. But what if, this sadness never goes away? What if, you keep feeling sad, and not knowing what is making you sad makes it worse? If these are some of the things that you feel, or know someone who feels this way, then it might be a sign of depression. Depression can happen to anybody. It could engulf the happiest of souls, richest and successful people. It is important to remember that depression is not a phase as some people who are totally unaware of this condition claim it to be. It is a mental condition, an illness just as common as a cold and it can be treated. However, depression could be a lot more threatening that a genera...
Post a Comment
Read more

HOW CHILDHOOD SCARS AFFECT ADULTHOOD

We all face different types of problems in our life. These can be problems in different areas in our lives. It could be our work, our family, our love life, relationship with our friends, career related or something else. Nobody is totally happy and without problems in life. But we have been bestowed with the ability to face these situations and find a solution for these problems on day to day basis. This is how life works after all. We face a problem, we tackle it and then we move forward to the next one waiting for us. Cycle of life as some people like to call it. But sometimes, due to some reasons, we may not be able to cope up with those problems. Nothing we do seems to work out or seems to ease the situation. This in turn leads to a lot of mental stress for an individual. There are many instances when one might seek help from people close to them. But if even that doesn’t seem to help, then maybe seeing a counselling psychologist might. In today’s world that moves forwar...
Post a Comment
Read more