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Some research indicates as many as one in every fifty children in the United States struggles with depression. Persistent feelings of sadness, weariness, and loss of purpose can take a devastating toll on a child's emotional well-being one that ripples out into many other areas of life.
Depression is more likely to affect boys more than girls under the age of ten; around age twelve, the statistics even out. Parents need to watch for depression's warning signs and quickly pursue support if depression seems to be affecting their child.
Depression's symptoms
In addition to the symptoms listed above, children with depression will experience feelings of listlessness, a sense or hopelessness, irritability followed by anger, social withdrawal, fatigue or low levels of energy, and difficulty concentrating and sleeping.
It should be understood that not all children with depression will suffer from all symptoms, nor are all symptoms necessary to qualify as a diagnosis.
Making a diagnosis
As yet there is no conclusive means of diagnosing depression. Experts compile test results based on behavior and expressed feelings and theorize a diagnosis from their findings.
Children who exhibit one or more symptoms for longer than two weeks may have the condition known as clinical depression. Parents should enlist the aid of a doctor to rule out physical symptoms that may be causing the behavior. If those do not reveal the problem, parents can enlist a psychiatrist or clinical social worker for help in making an evaluation. Experts will interview both the child and the parents, attempting to identify depressive events or habits in the child's daily life, before making their determination.
Depression's causes and origins
Medical research has found no single compelling reason for depression, but has instead found warning signs that indicate a high potential for the disease. Genetics play a very strong role: depressed children normally have a close relative who suffers from it as well.
Other mental health problems linked to depression
Children with depression are also to be at an increased risk for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Conduct Disorder.
An extreme form of mental disorder, called Bipolar Disorder (sometimes "manic depression"), causes the child's moods to swing from depressed to energetically happy, sometimes in very short amounts of time.
Treatment
Mental health experts will usually assign the child antidepressants and possibly a mood stabilizer, to help them manage symptoms. Therapy is also sometimes recommended, so that the child has a means of dealing with the depression's causes.
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