Depression in children is increasingly common and causes many consequences for families and society. So how can we recognize this disease so that we can take timely measures to help our children?
Signs of depression in children
Symptoms of depression in children have different characteristics than depression in adults, including:
Physical symptoms: Depression in children often manifests through physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, chest pain, and a feeling of suffocation accompanied by anxiety and sadness. Because these symptoms are more prominent than other problems, many cases of mild depression in children are not detected and diagnosed early. Instead, parents often take their children to medical facilities for examination of physical diseases such as cardiovascular, digestive, and neurological diseases without seeing effective treatment results or without clear evidence of damage.
Low mood: Children may feel bored for unknown reasons, irritable, and have reduced interest in learning and group activities. This can lead to decreased academic performance and social activities.
Thinking: Children have difficulty concentrating and paying attention, have difficulty absorbing learning, and learning outcomes decline. Some children may appear excited and see their superior abilities, but then their results decline significantly.
Social activities: Children are often withdrawn, isolated, do not want to communicate or participate in group activities, have difficulty sharing with friends, and are indifferent to those around them, including the closest people. This expression can range from less than enthusiastic to complete indifference.
Eating disorders: Depression in children can manifest in aspects of eating. Children feel anorexia, are not interested in eating, lose their appetite, leading to weight loss. In some cases, on the contrary, the baby will eat more than usual or binge eat and gain weight uncontrollably. If feeding is forbidden, the baby will be extremely restless and uncomfortable.
Sleep disorders: Children may sleep more or less than usual, have frequent nightmares, have difficulty falling asleep or decrease sleep quality, and often wake up in the middle of the night or wake up early.
Behavioral disorders: Children may exhibit disruptive behavior, be anti-social, rebel against their parents, skip school, steal, join gangs or bad friends.
Suicide: This is a serious symptom of depression in children, from thoughts to suicidal behavior. Children can commit suicide in different ways such as taking drugs, banging their head against the wall, strangling, cutting blood vessels, and often occurs in children with severe depression.
How to treat depression in children?
Children with depression are not weak or have character flaws. Children's feelings of sadness don't just need a few "cheer up" words to cure them. Children need treatment and depression can be completely cured. When detecting signs of depression in their children, parents should take them to reputable and reliable medical facilities to receive timely treatment.
Depression in children is a problem that cannot be overlooked. If parents recognize early and intervene promptly, they can help their children overcome difficulties, develop comprehensively and be happier. Family, school and society need to work together to create a safe and loving environment where children can share their feelings and receive the necessary support.
