Dr Sheena Misra Ghosh, psychologist, says that depression in children is more dangerous than depression in adults. “Suffering from depression so early in life makes the child prone to further mental illnesses in older age.” So how do parents know that their child is depressed?

Symptoms

“Depression is not plain sadness. It’s rooted deeper than that. It occurs when daily functioning is disrupted.”
Some symptoms include:

• The child’s decrease in decision-making ability and feelings of hopelessness. For example, a child who enjoyed art competitions starts saying that he doesn’t care if he wins or loses or doesn’t even participate because he thinks he won’t win.
• Childhood depression include increase or decrease in sleep and appetite.
• Sometimes, the child stays away from human contact and prefers to remain in isolation.
• The depressed child will show low concentration and low focus. There will also be over sensitivity to rejection. That is, they’ll be very touchy and will take everything to heart even if this wasn’t the case earlier.
• Older children who are suffering from depression often show signs of aggression, not being able to express themselves to their parents. 
• Psychosomatic symptoms (physical symptoms that arise from psychological disturbances) also occur in depressed children. “Just recently there was a child in the hospital who had severe headache and body ache after a humiliating experience,” says Dr Ghosh.

Reasons 

Depression can affect children for a number of reasons. It can be due to problems with a teacher, problems with classmates, problems with family, or because of a combination of reasons. A common reason here is pressurization. We’re in a culture where parents often force children to go beyond their abilities when it comes to academics.

Treatment

Psychologists can treat depression in children through two routes depending on the severity of the situation. If the child has stopped all activity and stays in isolation and has stopped consuming food, medicines will be required. On the other hand, if the main symptom is only low motivation, then psychotherapy or counseling is used. Counseling techniques for adults don’t work with small children who are not yet able to verbalise their thoughts properly. So for ages 4 to 10 years, play therapy is a popular option. One commonly used play therapy technique involves dolls. The child is asked to use the dolls to enact situations where the dolls are family members or other significant people in their lives.

If your child is showing any signs of depression, take him to a psychologist immediately and do not ignore signs!

Pic: Marinka van Holten