Causes and Cures - Depression in Children
Causes and Cures - Depression in Children
Have you found anything abnormal in your child’s regular activities? Have your child suddenly started shouting without any reason, is he or she has started doing poor performance at school? Well it can be because your child is suffering from depression. Depression in children has come under light from last few decades only, and still now most of the parents take it as bad behavior of their child. Unlike parents or elders, children don't know how to express their feelings. It is not a sickness or disease; it is only a temporary syndrome to alert the parents and teachers. Parents need not panic on this abnormal behavior, instead take steady action and monitor your children.
There can be many reasons after their depression. Few of them are:
• Losing any person like death of someone close to the child.
• Change of school or house, losing friends and people he or she always knew.
• Feeling of getting neglected.
• Family situations.(Father & Mother, brothers & sisters)
• Being alone at home most the time.
• Lack of sibling. Single child for a parent
• Physical weakness / long sickness
• Parent or Guardians’ Over strict / over freedom
• Amalgamation of affluent students’ friendship leads to bad character
• Parents give too much money for schools/colleges and immediately stop spending.
• TV serial/Cinema/books/Video games/uncensored films/photos/videos in Internet/
• More free time / more tight schedule
• Easy interaction with opposite sex (ie.cotton & Fire nearby)
• Lack of awareness of sex / more expectation on sexual affair(lack of sex education)
• Infatuation or illegal love affair and love failure at last.
• Failure in exams, sports, teachers are scolding, etc.
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Family situation has a huge part in determining a child's mentality or his or hers psychology. How much time parents spend with their child, environment of the house, abusive father or mother, fights between parents or members of family, divorce between parents etc. can be behind the depression of your child.
You can detect if your child is suffering from depression or not, by looking at these common symptoms:
• A sudden drop in school performance.
• Inability to sit still, fidgeting (restless), pacing (speed), wringing hands.
• Pulling or rubbing the hair, skin, clothing or other objects.
• Slowed body movements, monotonous (dull or repetitive) speech or muteness.
• Outbursts of shouting or complaining or unexplained irritability.
• Crying.
• Expression of fear or anxiety.
• Aggression, refusal to cooperate, antisocial behaviour.
• Use of alcohol or other drugs. (first stage of drug addicts)
• Complaints of aching arms, legs or stomach, without any cause.
• Fall in blind love with over aged persons/below aged persons
• Stubbornness / persistence
• Suicide attempt
• Run away from home
• Prefer to stay away from good company/friendship/family
• Not shaving their mustache / beard (depends on situation)
• Neglecting friends and relatives (keep on shelter in a room or in a remote place)
• Reducing appetite / hunger / heavy desire for food (over eating)
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This depression can hamper your child's physical as well as mental growth causing him or her to suffer more. If they misbehave in any sort then do try to find out what is the reason behind that behaviour. Don't fight or argue with each other or anybody else, in front of your child. You may not realise it in starting but it do affect your child which later bursts out as anger and screaming over petty matters and issues.
He or she needs your help and attention. Try to spend more time with them by playing, doing something innovative, or just simply watch a good movie. If you have a single child then this situation worsens as he or she is unable to share his or her feeling with anybody. Talk to them every day but interactively and not interrogatively. If you will keep on questioning him or her, they may feel offended and this will further increase distance between you two. Get more questions from them and try to answer them properly and legibly.
Tell them how you spent your day, then ask about his or hers, what different thing you did, what your child did, make plans for weekend, let them decide, involve them in any household work and then appreciate their efforts, give respect to their thoughts. Pray/worship to God along with your children everyday. Be a good role model for your children.
Last but least, take an advice from a psychologist, preferably child psychologist for better in-depth knowledge about this matter. By doing these simple things and by understanding child psychology you can strengthen your relationship with your child.