How does laughing really suit them, but sometimes our children don’t smile at all, they just look unhappy and sad. This may be a symptom of childhood depression and brings to mind that our children may become depressed. Perhaps some of us may wonder if a child has depression. Unfortunately, children can have depression just like adults. Even in adolescence, the rate of suicide and death due to depression was found to be very high. The frequency of depression in children is known to be approximately 1-3% in pre-school and 10-18% in post-school adolescence. There are many causes of depression in children. In general terms, it can be listed as follows.
1 Maternal depression (postpartum depression): Depression of mothers, especially after delivery, may lead to depression in infants. Generally, a mother’s depression in a child of any age can affect children as well, but the risk increases with the younger the child’s age.
2 Loss of close relatives: Losing or separation of relatives can seriously impair the mental health of children and cause them to become depressed. Especially the loss of first-degree relatives such as mother, father, sibling, grandfather, grandmother, etc. is more dangerous. Children whose parents are separated and who do not see one or both of their parents sufficiently or not at all are in the high-risk group for depression.
3 Insufficient social environment: Depression is common in children who do not go to school, have poor friendship relations, and generally do not spend time alone.
4 Insufficient parental attention: Insufficient attention of parents, especially the mother, not spending time with their children, their inability to control their inner worlds and emotional deficiencies create difficulties for children to overcome their problems, and this causes children to encounter depression.
5 Exposure to trauma: Many trauma factors such as exposure to violence, insults, sexual abuse deeply affect the mental health of our children. Depression symptoms are very common after such traumatic situations.
6 Being born with a disability or being disabled: The loss of an organ, disability such as blindness, deafness, or disability from birth can make children’s lives difficult, but they may not accept this situation and cause them to feel unhappy and insecure.
7 Chronic diseases: Conditions such as prolonged hospitalization, continuous drug use, frequent surgery or exposure to painful procedures may cause burnout in children. Under such conditions, children cannot live their childhood and live in constant fear of death and pain. As a result, severe depressive symptoms occur.
8 Genetic transmission: The presence of individuals with recurrent episodes of depression in the family is both a bad role model for children and increases the likelihood of depression in children due to heredity. Thus, if one of the parents has depression, the risk of depression in children doubles, while if both parents have depression, this risk increases 4 times.
Just like the causes, signs and symptoms also differ. If we divide childhood roughly into pre-school, school age and adolescence periods, the symptoms of depression seen in these periods differ.
Crying in preschool period, restlessness, stubbornness, irritability, whining, opposition, irritability, damaging things, introversion, not making eye contact, sleep disorders, feeding problems, constipation, indifference to games and toys, excessive pain sensitivity or insensitivity, slowdown in movements, etc. Somatic complaints (such as abdominal pain, headache, nausea, etc.) and anxiety disorders (especially separation anxiety) are more common in depressed children in the preschool period than in other periods.
Symptoms such as being sad, reluctance, restlessness, not wanting to go to school, lack of self-confidence, boredom, slowing down in movements, decrease in school success, being anxious, somatic complaints, etc., are common in school age.
In adolescence, the picture is unhappiness, depression, weakness, lack of energy, introversion, loneliness, not being able to enjoy anything, weight loss (sometimes weight gain), sleep disorder, thinking in school success, distraction, motivation problems, It progresses with symptoms such as deterioration in friendships and low self-esteem. Alcohol and drug use, suicidal thoughts and attempts are common in depression in adolescence and may mask the depressive picture.
Although a few items listed above among the causes of depression cannot be changed, many causes can be eliminated. Since the prevalence of depression is high, especially during adolescence, families should be more careful during this period. One of the most important factors is the parent-child relationship. A healthy family relationship prevents depression in children. Parents should establish strong communication both with their children and among themselves. It is necessary for parents to enter the inner world of their children, to get to know them and to give them the necessary teachings. Especially in the preschool period, sibling jealousy, different behaviors of parents and comparisons can cause depression in children. Another important factor is the circle of friends and school. A good circle of friends and proper school support reduce the risk of depression in children. The way of eating and the foods consumed are also important. It is considered among the preventive factors in depression in sports and other social activities. If the family has symptoms of depression in children, they should consult specialists. It should also be kept in mind that depression may be a symptom of other diseases or may accompany other psychiatric diseases.
Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy (drug therapy) are used in treatment. Children with a high risk of suicide can be hospitalized. Regular and long-term treatment and healthy family and school support are required for the recurrence of the disease. In addition, conditions that may lead to depression and psychiatric diseases should be reviewed and prevented.
See you in happy and peaceful tomorrows…
