Healthy Habits: Recognizing Depression in Children

 2020 has been tough on everyone, including our children. Whilst kids are young and resilient they are often impacted much more by the “energy” in their environment than adults. This means they pick up on the non-verbal stress levels around them such as parents fighting, a pandemic raging across the globe, lack of physical contact with friends and extended family, etc. Given what we know about childhood depression, our current life's added “stressors” are placing many children at a higher risk of developing depression than ever before.  

Author of What it’s Worth - a prospective on How to Thrive and Survive Parenting, Clinical Psychologist, Health Service Psychologist, a Board Certified Music Therapist and Momprenuer, Dr. Bethany Cook shares what signs/symptoms should parents be on the lookout for:

• Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable a lot of the time

• Not wanting to do or enjoy doing fun things

• Social withdrawal

• Feeling worthless, useless, or guilty

• Exhibiting self-injury and self-destructive behavior (such as cutting)

• Increased sensitivity to rejection

• Changes in energy – being tired and sluggish or tense and restless a lot of the time

• Changes in appetite - increased or decreased

• Changes in sleep - sleeplessness or excessive sleep

• Vocal outbursts or crying

• Trouble concentrating

• Physical complaints (such as stomachaches, headaches) that don't respond to treatment

• Reduced ability to function during events and activities at home or in school, in extracurricular activities or other hobbies and interests, or with friends

• Thoughts of or talking about death or suicide

Since the pandemic started, the suicide rate in children has risen as well as a multitude of mental health problems. Calls to DCFS have decreased by 50% in some places NOT because abuse is down but because the kids getting abused are not going to school so mandated reporters aren’t able to see what’s going on in the home.

Whitney Houston wasn’t wrong when she sang I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the world. Our children ARE the future leaders of tomorrow. It’s our job today to help them develop into their best selves. Childhood depression is a treatable condition, not a life sentence.

I had a chance to interview Dr. Bethany Cook for more info!

1. Why is it important for parents to be aware of the signs of depression in kids?
   
   

It’s important for parents to be aware of signs of depression in their child because it's a serious mental illness that impacts all areas of a child's development; cognitive, social/emotional, physical and spiritual.  

2. How can parents differentiate typical sadness from something more serious like depression or anxiety?
   
   

When trying to decide if your child's sadness is something more (depression or anxiety) the biggest indicator would be duration.  The DSM-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) has stated that symptoms (listed below) must be present in 2 or more settings (home/school/church/etc).  The symptoms must also cause significant distress or impairment in social/emotional, academic, and/or cognitive areas.  Symptoms for an anxiety disorder must persist for at least 4 weeks up to 6 months.  For a depressive disorder symptoms must consistently be present for a minimum of 2 weeks.  Another differential indicator would be the amount of symptomatology your child displays.  Multiple symptoms indicate a higher probability of diagnosis.  

Depressive Symptoms you might see in your child.

• Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable a lot of the time
• Not wanting to do or enjoy doing fun things
• Social withdrawal
• Feeling worthless, useless, or guilty
• Exhibiting self-injury and self-destructive behavior (such as cutting)
• Increased sensitivity to rejection
• Changes in energy – being tired and sluggish or tense and restless a lot of the time
• Changes in appetite - increased or decreased
• Changes in sleep - sleeplessness or excessive sleep
• Vocal outbursts or crying
• Trouble concentrating
• Physical complaints (such as stomachaches, headaches) that don't respond to treatment
• Reduced ability to function during events and activities at home or in school, in extracurricular activities or other hobbies and interests, or with friends
• Thoughts of or talking about death or suicide

Anxiety Symptons you might see in your child

• finding it hard to concentrate
• not sleeping, or waking in the night with bad dreams
• not eating properly
• quickly getting angry or irritable, and being out of control during outbursts
• constantly worrying or having negative thoughts
• feeling tense and fidgety, or using the toilet often
• always crying
• being clingy
• complaining of tummy aches and feeling unwell in general
  
  

3. What are some signs that are often overlooked by parents and caregivers?
   
   

Depression often looks different in children compared to adults. The primary difference is the amount of anger and rage a child with depression exhibits versus an adult. Just because a child exhibits anger doesn’t automatically mean they are defiant or simply unruly. Anger is one of the symptoms many children with depression struggle with and one that is the most misunderstood by parents. “My kid is just pissed off and mad….he’s not depressed” is a phrase I hear all too often from parents not wanting to face the music about their child’s emotional wellbeing. Finally, younger children often display separation anxiety whereas tweens/teens will display more school/social anxiety.