Symptoms Of Depression In Children

The most common symptoms of depression in children are irritability, sadness, less involvement in the acitivities or games to enjoy. This is the mental illness that must be addressed properly. The school going children usually become irritant to every person including parents and friends. The communication of the children with us depends upon the behavior of the parents, careers, and teachers. It is rarely seen that a child comes forth on his own and says things about his mood or emotions. When we see children looking sad or angry and observe them withdraw from their circle of friends or activities, these little things are the first signs we may get that something is wrong with a child, but sometimes we overlook these signs, which we should not. The symptoms of depression in children are:-

1-Children start crying more as compared to their normal routine, feel sad, desperate or powerless

2-Loss of interest in activities that used to spark eagerness in them

3-Bad temper, short-tempered and easily infuriated by little disappointments

4-Lack of focus, the child can't concentrate on things

5-Lack of power, the child feels fatigued and cannot do things which he normally could

6-Doesn't talk to other children, the child starts to withdraw socially and becomes a loner

7-The sleeping habits change, he starts to over sleep a lot or doesn't get much sleep in the night

8-Change in hunger, starts eating more or less than usual

9-The child's school performance starts to drop

10-The most prominent symptom is that a child starts to use drugs or alcohol

11-Complaints of headaches, stomach aches and arm or legs aching

12-Pessimism in the child's behavior and saying negative statements like "I am stupid" or "it's my entire fault"

13-Thoughts of self harming and suicide, these should be taken seriously

The younger a child is when he starts to show depression the more serious and severe the problem is likely to be. Children don't know how to handle these stressful situations and thus may end up doing the wrong thing, it is the duty of the grownup around the child to help him. We must take note of these symptoms when a child is growing up and if he shows them, then we should help solve his problem in everyway we can.