subject: Depression Is Another Serious Condition In Children Aside From Birth Defects [print this page] Childhood depression is a serious problem that should be dealt with. Mental illnesses including depression are often difficult to diagnose in children. Depression is primarily managed by antidepressants, even in children. It has been said that children could need antidepressants if mothers smoked while pregnant. Disseminating information regarding this condition will be helpful for public awareness since this is not as discussed as depression in adults.
How Will You Know if a Child has Depression?
Diagnosing depression is done by a specialist but it would help to know the signs so appropriate actions can be made immediately. These signs might not be true to all but most are present in children who suffer from depression.
Emotional Changes
Sadness is the main sign for depression but it doesnt mean that your child already has depression when he/she is sad. In Psychology, there is what they call as masked depression, where the child masked the sadness into anger or other emotional outbursts. Usually, emotional symptoms would involve feelings of sadness or loneliness, frequent mood changes, increased sensitivity to rejection, guilt and anger among others.
Mental Changes
The child may also have changes in thoughts and thinking such as ideas indicating low self-esteem or dislike towards the self. The child might happen to always think of negative thoughts. These thoughts may also be suicidal in nature. Suicide is usually depressions worst case scenario. Be on the lookout for suicidal ideations and attempts.
Physical changes
Depression in children can also translate to physical symptoms. Usually, the child feels tired and fatigued to participate in activities. Depressed children may also have sleeping and eating problems.
Behavioral Changes
Changes in behavior can be observed when a child has depression. They usually withdraw from others and you can notice that he/she would easily cry over something. Interests over previous likes or hobbies may be gone. Others may manifest tantrums over simple things.
The mentioned signs are the most common that are observed in children with depression. When you noticed that these are happening to your child, you are highly advised to check with your doctor. You can go to a general practitioner and he/she can then refer you to a specialist. Depression can affect the childs development just like Zoloft birth defects so it would be ideal to manage the condition once diagnosed.
by: Angelena E. Mays
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