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Social withdrawal/becoming withdrawn from family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.