Depression in Childhood or Adolescence

The occurrence of depression increases significantly during adolescence. Early detection and treatment of childhood and adolescent depression is imperative, if not caught and effectively addressed it can lead to more serious mental health issues, school failure, drug abuse and even suicide. Depression in children tends to look a little different when compared to depressive symptoms in adults and can be harder to identify since often these symptoms are misinterpreted as typical “growing up” behavior.

 

Signs Your Child May Be Depressed:

  • Pretends to be sick

  • Refuses to go to school

  • Cries a lot

  • Clings to a parent

  • Worry that parent(s) may die

  • Has sleep or appetite changes

  • Has thoughts of death or dying

  • Expresses wishes to harm self or others either written, verbally or through drawings

  • Has feelings of being “blue” or sad*Note: in children and adolescents, irritability is more common than expressed feelings of sadness

  • Has low self-esteem: calls self “stupid”, “bad”, “ugly”, etc.

  • Has slowed physical responses or increased motor agitation

  • Gains or loses a significant amount of weight

  •  Doesn’t care or lacks the motivation to complete school work

  • Has a sudden drop in grades

  • Withdraws from family and friends 

Signs Your Teen May Be Depressed:

  • Feeling sad all or much of the time and the feeling does not go away

  • Frequent crying

  • Feeling guilty for no apparent reason

  • Losing self-confidence; feeling that he/she is ‘no good’; being overly self-critical

  • Feeling that life has no meaning or purpose

  • Feeling nothing good will happen; feeling hopeless, helpless

  • Having a negative attitude much of the time

  • Self-blame

  • It seems he/she has no feelings

  • Failure to enjoy things that used to bring enjoyment

  • Difficulty concentrating, making decisions

  • Getting irritated frequently and easily

  • Getting angry easily; increase in aggressive behavior

  • Being overly sensitive to criticism (especially in high achievers)

  • Changes in eating habits (loss of appetite or weight loss; overeating/weight gain)

  • Changes in sleeping habits:  insomnia, sleeping too much, not feeling rested

  • Feeling tired most of the time/fatigue/lack of energy

  • Physical pain

  • Social withdrawal/becoming withdrawn from family

  • Sudden loss of interest in personal hygiene

  • Self-harm including excessive use of drugs and/or alcohol

  • Thoughts about death, feeling like he/she is dying, wishing to die, increased talk about dying, preoccupation with death

  • Having thoughts about committing suicide or making suicide attempts

 

Avenues of Counseling and Mediation, LLC has locations in Medina and Akron, Ohio.  In both offices, we have many compassionate and experienced Counselors who specialize in identifying and treating depression.

Nicki Masters