Reading 6 min. Views 1.1k. Posted on 08.09.2018

It is generally accepted that the depressive state is the lot of adults. But a modern child lives in a constant flow of information, often experiences stress, this is especially true for younger students and adolescents. Today we will talk about why depression occurs in children, how to recognize warning signs in a timely manner, and what needs to be done in such situations.

Depression in children under 3

Children's depression does not always arise through the fault of the parents, psychoemotional pathologies are rapidly growing younger, therefore, it is almost impossible to raise a child with an absolutely healthy nervous system and psyche.

The problem can arise at any age, often the pathology is diagnosed in babies under 3 years old, but most often depressive states are manifested in younger schoolchildren and adolescents.

Causes of psychoemotional disorders in young children:

• hypoxia and asphyxia, intrauterine infectious pathologies, difficult labor;
• severe illness at an early age;
• genetic factor psychoemotional disorders are inherited almost always;
• loss of a sense of safety and security when the emotional connection with mom is broken;
• aggression, domestic violence, the presence of alcohol addiction in parents - fear of loud sounds is innate, therefore constant scandals negatively affect the physical, mental and emotional development of the baby.

In babies, depression manifests itself in the form of poor appetite, frequent bouts of vomiting, the baby is poorly or does not gain weight at all, lethargy, increased excitability are observed

If your child is often sick, you endlessly go to different doctors, but there is zero sense, then the reasons most likely lie in problems with the psyche and nervous system.

Depression in preschoolers - causes and symptoms

As the child grows up, his psyche becomes more complicated, many factors affect its normal functioning - the atmosphere in the family, the first experience of socialization, the rapid development of speech and thinking.

At the age of 3-6, depressive states manifest themselves not only through somatic signs, but also mood swings are observed, the child still cannot understand what is happening to him, but attentive parents will notice violations.

Symptoms of depression in preschoolers:

• lethargy, apathy, the child does not show interest in games and favorite activities;
• the desire to be alone;
• the child often complains of boredom, cries for no apparent reason;
• various fears and phobias appear;
• facial expressions become stingy, the voice is quiet, the baby walks hunched over.

Of the somatic manifestations, dyspeptic disorders most often arise - diarrhea, constipation, nausea, abdominal pain, there is an unreasonable increase in temperature, muscle aches, headache.

Depressive states in younger schoolchildren

When a child enters school, his social and educational loads increase, he needs to learn how to behave correctly with peers and teachers, set goals correctly, be able to plan time and follow the rules. At the same time, the psyche is not yet fully formed, fatigue and constant stress negatively affect the emotional state.

Problems and conflicts with classmates and teachers, educational loads are added to the main causes of depression, biological and family, at the age of 7-12 years, the next stage of personality formation occurs, the child tries to be an adult and independent, but this does not always work, which provokes development psycho-emotional disorders.

But there are also small advantages, at this age children can already explain their feelings in words, they begin to complain of sadness, longing, apathy, endless fatigue.

Children under 10-12 years old do not know how to describe and understand their own mood, which greatly complicates the diagnosis at an early age. In preschoolers and junior schoolchildren, psycho-emotional disorders are manifested in the form of somatic symptoms, physical ailments.

Symptoms of depression in younger students:

• decreased or complete lack of interest in studies, hobbies, entertainment;
• avoiding contact with peers, parents;
• the child reacts sharply to any comments, criticism;
• distraction, impairment of memory and attention - all this negatively affects the study, which only aggravates the situation;
• unreasonable fits of anger, irascibility, irritability - these symptoms appear at 10-12 years old.

Depression is accompanied by physical pathologies - heart and headache, stomach discomfort, often at this age vegetative-vascular dystonia develops.

Teenage depression

Puberty is a "wonderful" time for both parents and teenagers. The hormonal surge aggravates all psycho-emotional problems. Latent depressions develop after 12 years , since the child becomes withdrawn, often resorts to calmness to alcohol, drugs, begins to smoke.

Causes of depression:

• failure in relationships with the opposite sex;
• frequent conflicts with peers, as teenagers constantly try to prove that they are leaders;
• internal conflicts and contradictions;
• dissatisfaction with your own appearance;
• enthusiasm computer games, the flow of unnecessary information from the Internet;
• the workload at school is increasing, and the question of the future profession is increasingly raised.

Among the reasons for the development of depressive states in adolescents, family problems fade into the background, relationships with peers occupy the leading positions - the authority of peers far exceeds that of a parent.

The manifestation of psychoemotional disorders is in many ways similar to the symptoms of depression in younger schoolchildren, but mood swings appear more often, thoughts of death and suicide attempts are often added.

Treatment methods

It is impossible to cope with childhood or adolescent depression on your own, do not hesitate to seek help from a child neuropathologist, psychologist or psychotherapist - the consequences of neglected depressive conditions are much worse than a visit to a specialist.

Treatment is carried out only comprehensively, taking into account the patient's age, the severity of the pathology.

How to treat depression

1. Medication therapy. Do not try to choose medicines on your own on the advice of relatives and friends, the list of antidepressants is long, all drugs have contraindications, side effects, and are often addictive. Therefore, only a doctor should prescribe them.
2. Reflexology, physiotherapy - these methods are considered auxiliary, but in the early stages of the development of depressive conditions they help a lot.
3. Psychotherapy. The sessions are carried out with children over 3 years old, for adolescents this method of treatment is very important. There are many modern types of correction of psychoemotional disorders - art therapy, color and music treatment, dance therapy, meditation, experts resort to hypnosis in extreme cases.

For the treatment to be successful, you need to normalize the daily routine - the child must get enough sleep, eat correctly and in a balanced manner, and move more. In the correct form, you need to limit your time on social networks, computer games.

Show a sincere interest in the child's attractions - what he reads, listens, looks, and do not rush to criticize, each generation has its own idols, you need to come to terms with this and try to understand.

Know how to make compromises, take into account the opinion of the child, do not fall into hysterics if the teenager decided to become an actor or musician, and not get a prestigious and necessary, from your point of view, profession.

Conclusion

Being parents is hard, round-the-clock work, children almost constantly come out of one age crisis to plunge into another difficult period. Love, attention, moderate care, good family relationships, joint walks and rest - all this will help you to more easily transfer or completely avoid depressive states in a child, and keep your own nerves.

Tell us in the comments if you have experienced childhood or adolescent depression, which helped you cope with an unpleasant problem.

IN recent times there have been increasing press reports of teenage suicide. Depression is the most common cause of suicide. Such states do not develop in an hour or a day. Depression is a long-term condition. The duration of depression is most often more than two years, however, less short-term conditions (from 2 weeks to 2 years) can also occur.

Causes of depression in children

The following factors contribute to the development of depression:

1. Pathology of the early neonatal period: chronic intrauterine fetal hypoxia, the birth of children with asphyxia, the presence of neonatal encephalopathy, intrauterine infections. All of these conditions lead to brain damage.

2. Family climate: incomplete family, conflicts in the family, “over-care” by mothers, lack of care on the part of parents, lack of proper sexual education on the part of parents. Very often, in single-parent families, children cannot tell their parent about all their problems, especially in families where the daughter is raised only by the father. In such families, children withdraw into themselves, the whole burden of problems falls only on their shoulders, and sometimes they cannot cope with this burden. Frequent conflicts in the family lead to the child's ideas that he is a burden for the parents, that without him they would live much easier. In the presence of "overprotection" on the part of the mother, children are not able to adapt to the environment and society, without the lack of support from the mother, they become completely helpless. Adolescence is a period of experimentation, especially sexually. In the absence of sexual experience, very often problems and failures can arise at the first sexual contact. With sufficient awareness of the child in sexual terms, this circumstance will not cause a negative reaction in the adolescent, however, in the absence of sex education, this situation can negatively affect the adolescent, which will lead to his isolation.

3. Adolescence. As mentioned above, adolescence is a period of experimentation. In addition to the previously described problems, hormonal and structural changes in the body occur during this period. Girls have their first menstruation, boys have nocturnal emissions (nocturnal ejaculation), the shape of the body changes, and youthful acne appears. Due to an overabundance of hormones, children become more aggressive, leaders appear in their environment who dictate a particular way of life. If you do not correspond to this image, you cannot get into a communication group, which means that you find yourself outside the board of public life. All this can lead to the alienation of the child from society, the emergence of thoughts that he is not like everyone else.

4. Frequent change of residence. The child should have a social circle, friends. With a frequent change of place of residence, a child cannot make full-fledged friends with whom he could spend his free time, share secrets.

5. Learning problems. The modern educational process is too overloaded with subjects, not every child is able to cope with the school load. The backlog of the school curriculum isolates the child from his classmates, making him very vulnerable mentally.

6. Availability of a computer and the Internet. Advances in technology have allowed the whole world to unite, narrowing it down to a computer monitor, however, this has badly affected the ability of young people to communicate. Children have a narrower circle of interests, they are not able to discuss anything with their peers, except for how much he “pumped” his hero or how many “bots” he “soaked” yesterday. Children become shy when they meet in person, it is difficult for them to find words, because it is so easy to hide behind a couple of emoticons on a computer. In this case, the only form of communication they have is chatting.

Depression in a child can develop as a result of exposure to acute or chronic stress (death or serious illness of loved ones, family breakdown, quarrel with loved ones, conflicts with peers, etc.), but it can start out of connection with some visible reasons against the background of complete physical and social well-being, which, as a rule, is associated with disturbances in the normal course of biochemical processes in the brain. There are so-called seasonal depressions, the occurrence of which is associated with the special sensitivity of the body to climatic conditions (often manifested in children who have undergone hypoxia, who received various injuries during childbirth).

Symptoms of depression in a child

Depression is most susceptible to adolescence. There are early (12-13 years old), middle (13-16 years old) and late (over 16 years old) depression.

Depression manifests itself in the classic triad of symptoms: decreased mood, decreased mobility, and decreased thinking.

Decreased mood throughout the day with depression is uneven. Most often, in the morning hours, the mood is more upbeat, children are quite willing to go to school. During the day, the mood gradually decreases, the peak of the depressed mood occurs in the evening. Children are not interested in anything, they may be disturbed by a headache, in rare cases, an increase in body temperature is possible. Children complain that everything is bad for them, that they have constant problems at school, conflicts with teachers and students. No success makes them happy, they constantly see only negative sides, even in the best things.

In addition to low mood, so-called outbreaks of very have a good mood... Children joke, have fun, however, such a high mood does not last long (from several minutes to an hour), and then it is replaced by a low mood again.

Decreased mobility manifests itself in unwillingness to move, children either constantly lie or sit in the same position, most often hunched over. Physical labor does not arouse any interest in them.

The thought process in children is slowed down, speech is quiet, slowed down. Children find it difficult to select the necessary words, it becomes problematic for them to build an associative array (for example, a wedding-bride-white dress-veil). Children answer questions after a pause, most often with just one word or just a nod of the head. There is a fixation on one thought, most often with a negative connotation: no one loves me, everything is bad for me, nothing works out for me, everyone is trying to do something bad to me.

Children have a decrease in appetite, they refuse to eat, sometimes they may not eat for several days. They sleep a little, insomnia bothers, as dwelling on one thought interferes with the process of falling asleep. Sleep in children is superficial, restless, does not allow the body to fully rest.

Thoughts about suicide do not arise immediately, most often for their occurrence a long period of illness is required (from a year or more). The thought of suicide is not limited to one thought. Children come up with a plan of action, think over options for leaving life. This variant of the course of the disease is the most dangerous, since it can easily lead to death.

In addition to psychological disorders, somatic symptoms very often occur. Such children often seek medical help with complaints of general malaise, weakness, pain in the chest, heart, abdomen, headache, an increase in body temperature is possible, which is often regarded as a persistent (circulating) infection in the body.

In connection with the presence of psycho-emotional disorders, children begin to lag behind in school, they lose interest in any entertainment, children stop engaging in hobbies, even if before that they devoted all their time to it.

As mentioned earlier, the course of the disease is long and it can last for years. Therefore, if the child lives in a family with parents, it is quite easy to notice the symptoms. It's another matter if the child lives in a hostel. During the day, fellow students see him as usual, without changes, since the deterioration usually occurs in the evening, and in the evening the child is most often alone in the dorm room, where no one sees him. For the administration, such a child is of no interest, since he does not disturb the order.

What should parents pay attention to?

First of all, it is necessary to talk with the child, be interested in his life, problems at school. It is necessary to pay attention to intonation, the presence of plans for the future, optimistic views on the future. Pay attention to whether your child has friends, to be interested in what he does after school. It is necessary to pay attention to how much time the child spends without doing any business. For some children, this is laziness, but even the laziest child can be forced to do something by bribing him, while a child with depression is not interested in anything, neither gifts nor rewards.

Closure and lack of friends can sometimes also be observed during masturbation, when children try to retire, avoid prying eyes... Frequent mood swings can occur when a child is taking drugs. In this case, other signs of drug addiction also draw on themselves: preference for wearing long-sleeved clothes, photophobia, increased irritability, inability to concentrate on one lesson (restlessness), detection of syringes, needles, and incomprehensible bags.

Evaluation of a child with depression

Treating children with depression

In severe cases, when a child expresses suicidal oils, especially when he has a specific plan for leaving life, treatment should be carried out only in a hospital, in the department of borderline conditions.

For milder forms of the disease, treatment can be done at home. The child must live throughout the course of treatment ordinary life: going to school, doing homework, going to the store to shop.

In pediatric practice, Adaptol has proven itself very well. This drug is very well tolerated, has no side effectsdoes not cause drowsiness. The drug normalizes sleep, improves mood, strengthens the body's resistance to psycho-emotional stress. It is necessary to take the drug in a dosage of 300 mg, 1 tablet 3 times a day. The duration of treatment is from 2 weeks to a month. With severe symptoms, adaptol should be taken in a dosage of 500 mg 2-3 times a day for 3 weeks, and then switch to a dosage of 300 mg and continue taking it for another 1 month. This drug, in addition to psycho-emotional symptoms, also relieves somatic manifestations of depression well: pain goes away, temperature is normalized. The use of adaptol for frequent headaches, pain in the heart, frequent rises in body temperature is one of the ways to accurately establish a diagnosis and single out patients with depression from the group of children.

Also, on an outpatient basis, you can use a drug such as tenoten. Tenoten is a homeopathic medicine that blocks certain proteins in the brain. Well reduces anxiety, improves sleep, and normalizes appetite. The drug helps to improve concentration, normalize memory.

In severe cases, antidepressants are used: amitriptyline, pyrazidol, azafen. These drugs should be used only under medical supervision, and preferably only in a hospital.

But no treatment for depression in children is complete without positive changes in his family, parents must accept the "real child", his needs and aspirations instead of their own expectations, instead of the "child of their dreams." When conducting psychotherapy, they work on strengthening the child's self-esteem, developing his ability to express his feelings, share them, step by step to cope with problems and constructively influence the situation himself.

Prevention of depression in children

To prevent the development of depression in children, it is necessary to organize psychological assistance in schools and colleges, children need to be explained the need to visit a psychologist when problems arise. It is necessary to improve the climate in the family, try to do some business with the whole family (picnics, hikes in the forest, sport games). Take an interest in your child's life, show how interesting his hobby is for you. Try to know your child's friends, however, it is necessary that this be unobtrusive, everything should be in the form of a conversation, when the child himself tells you everything. Pay attention to your child's behavior, notice all the new addictions in your child.

The child will not be able to get out of the depression on his own., therefore, the task of parents is to pay attention to a change in the child's personality in time and seek medical help.

The child should be outdoors more often, be active in daylight and rest in complete darkness. It has a beneficial effect on the entire body, normalizes biorhythms.

Pediatrician Litashov M.V.

Most people believe that depression is a problem that can only concern adults, but children are also susceptible to this danger. Depression permeates a child's daily life, and children are often unable to identify or explain to adults what is happening. If you suspect your child is depressed, read the tips below. They can help you recognize the symptoms and also tell you how to talk about the problem with your child.

Steps

Part 1

Observe emotional changes

Watch for changes in children's emotions. It must be remembered that some children have little or no symptoms of depression. If you think your child is depressed, you need to watch for the mood swings and changes in emotion that have begun to show lately.

Notice any sign of prolonged or unnecessary sadness or anxiety. This can be tearfulness, frequent crying, and a general state of anxiety. You should also pay attention to constant stress, bedwetting in a child whose bed was previously dry, fearfulness, tension or sudden attacks of fear when other people or some objects appear.

• You should also note the long-term inability to cope with the loss, which can last for weeks or even months.

1. Listen to expressions of guilt or hopelessness. Perhaps your child has started to slip through the expressions “I'm to blame (it's my fault)”, or “what's the point, why? (there is no point in trying) ". The presence of such expressions can signal both a strong expression of ordinary childhood fears and the presence of serious problems reflecting stronger feelings of anxiety.

   • Feelings of hopelessness can be expressed in different ways: inability to do homework, lack of interest in things that were previously attracted, a general expression of guilt, even if it is known that the child is not at fault for what happened.

2. Beware of increased anger and irritability. Sometimes a depressed child will show clear and expressive signs. Such children overreact to what is happening, expressing irritation, anger and frustration about small things. They feel neglected in the most mundane situations. They also become restless and tend to increase their anxiety levels. Such children lose the ability to remain calm and self-controlled.

   • It can also manifest itself in the inability to endure any criticism. Pay attention if your child is overly sensitive to rejection or is unable to accept criticism normally, even if it is very mild. If constructive criticism is perceived as painful, it may indicate problems.

3. Look for signs of a lack of joy and satisfaction in life. You also need to pay attention to the child's level of happiness. The problem can be discovered by noticing that for several days you have not heard the children's laughter or the child is not interested in favorite things. In this case, you need to take steps to lift his / her spirit. If all efforts fail, your child is depressed.

   Pay attention to your child's eating habits. You should document any unexplained changes in appetite if they last long. It can be an increase in appetite or, conversely, a lack of desire to eat. Also, with manifestations of depression, the child usually loses interest in food that was previously loved.

   Be aware of your child's social life. Withdrawal from social life is a common behavioral response to isolate oneself from peers. If children develop depression, they may withdraw from social life, both among friends and family. Beware of this. :

   • Preference to play alone rather than with peers.
   • Lack of interest in maintaining friendships that were previously meaningful.

4. Pay attention to any changes in your sleep patterns. These can be the opposite changes - constant drowsiness or insomnia. You should also pay attention to the increased frequency of statements about fatigue and lack of energy, accompanied by a decrease in interest in activities that previously interested the child.

Part 3

Talk to your child

1. Be aware that your child may be hiding symptoms of depression. Many children have not yet learned how to correctly express their inner experiences. Therefore, it is unlikely that a son or daughter will come up to you and say, "I am depressed." Also, he / she should not be expected to try to explain the problem, since the children themselves cannot really understand what is happening.

   • Be mindful of what your child is “not” talking about and be prepared to bring it up yourself. Children can be embarrassed and painful about discussing their own problems. The signs of depression are listed in this article in the description of 'watching for signs and symptoms'.

2. Listen to your child as if he or she is not able to clearly explain and understand what is happening. By taking the time each day to listen to your child, you give him the opportunity to talk about what is happening to him. Children are usually straightforward and honest in describing things as they see them, even if they cannot properly explain or understand what is happening.

   • Ask your child every night how he is feeling. If anxiety or sadness is noticed, take time to talk to them about problems and reasons for not being happy.

3. Make it easier for your child to communicate with you. You must understand that communication with children is difficult if you use the labels “moody” or “difficult”, or behave with them as if you were naughty. This makes it much more difficult for children to express what they feel deep within themselves.

   • You also need to be careful about any issues that the children raise themselves. In order to maintain the correct approach to the child in the future, there is no need to ignore any questions (for example, saying "this is stupid").

4. Maintain a good relationship with the mentors of your children at school and other institutions. Thanks to this, you can get feedback and signals on events that you yourself cannot notice. It will also allow you to determine if the same problems are sustainable in different settings.

   • For example, you might talk to the teacher if you suspect your child is depressed. Schedule a meeting to discuss parenting issues and ask if any oddities are noticed in class.

The child was always white and fluffy, and then suddenly it deteriorated. He was sweet and friendly, but he became angry and hysterical. He was almost an excellent student, but slipped into twos and threes. He was so positive, but became a whiner. It seems that the gnomes have come, carried away a good child, brought some kind of nasty changeling.

For a long time it was believed that there is no depression at all in children - that only a formed personality can react with depression to difficult life circumstances. Then doctors found out that depression occurs in children, but is different from depression in adults.

Childhood depression is not easy to recognize and diagnose because it hides behind other, more pronounced problems depending on the child's age. The younger the child, the more difficult it is to recognize depression behind whining, complaints "stomach hurts" and "legs hurt".

The child does not eat well, does not sleep well, cries. For older preschoolers, fears, restlessness, anxiety, and sometimes aggression come to the fore. In schoolchildren, the most noticeable is poor progress, unwillingness to learn, hot temper and absurdity.

Adults are often unable to understand what is happening with the child. He seems to them either sick or capricious. They explain his state of laziness, rudeness, licentiousness. Parents believe that the child has become insolent, and grab the belt, but it should be the head. Some families get to specialists only when the child starts talking about suicide.

Where is it from?

Childhood is considered to be happy and carefree at times, and childhood problems seem to adults to be trifling, easily overcome. But children, just like adults, experience stress and grief - but, unlike adults, they still have neither life experience nor the ability to cope with them.

Depression in children, like adults, has no single cause. Scientists identify several different prerequisites.

Firstly, these are biologically factors (including congenital disorders of the neurobiochemical balance in the synapses of the brain, changes in some brain structures, disturbances in biological rhythms, etc.)

Secondly, these are genetic factors (hereditary predisposition - relatives of children diagnosed with depression often have depression, bipolar disorder, or other mental illnesses).

Thirdly, psychosocial prerequisites: first of all, mental trauma. For babies - separation from the mother (hospital, sanatorium, shelter, orphanage); in children over 4 years old - scandals in the family, divorce of parents, death of loved ones and the birth of brothers or sisters; schoolchildren have a school; all of them have disasters, wars, severe socio-economic changes. Depression can be caused by a serious illness or an age crisis.

Some scientists point out that one of the prerequisites for the onset of depression is personality traits and ways of responding to stress: some children easily adapt to a difficult situation, others find it unbearable.

How it looks

The clinical criteria for major depression (or monopolar, as opposed to bipolar disorder with alternating manic and depressive stages), according to the diagnostic and statistical manual, include depressed mood (feeling of emptiness, tearfulness, in children and adolescents - increased emotional excitability); decreased interest and pleasure in all areas of life; changes in weight and appetite; insomnia, drowsiness; agitation or lethargy; weakness and loss of energy; feelings of inadequacy and unfounded guilt; inability to think and concentrate; thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts.

American psychiatrists warn: children with depression, especially if they are over 12 years old, can start using alcohol and drugs.

Depressed children often complain that everything hurts them - head, stomach, heart, arms, legs. Someone has it all at once, someone has one thing, but always. Some people say that it is difficult to breathe, it is impossible to breathe. They start to get sick a lot, and very often before going to a psychologist or psychiatrist, they are examined by different doctors for several months.

Many “fall into childhood” - in fact, they return to previous stages of development: they lose the skills they have mastered, start playing with long-abandoned toys, and return to their once-favorite books for little ones. Enuresis and encopresis may appear. Some begin to pretend to be babies: lisp, ask for pens, offer to play children's games.

Tearfulness, fears, whining, stickiness and intrusiveness - on the one hand, children are irritated and rude to adults, on the other hand, they want confirmation of love from them, - are also signs of depression. “Children, like adults, may have a daily rhythm of endogenous depression: in the morning they are sluggish, boring, and in the evening the level of anxiety and irritability increases, motor observation increases,” says clinical psychologist Natalya Naumenko.

Children often think about the meaninglessness of life, about death. Someone is afraid for themselves and is looking for all possible sores, someone for their mother: will she be hit by a car, will she die? Someone terrorists, thieves, robbers. Someone worries about the fate of the world: whether there will be a war, whether they will bomb us, whether humanity will die from overpopulation or a cosmic catastrophe.

The most insignificant reason can cause wild hysteria. Domestic psychiatrists N. Iovchuk and A. Severny describe seizures of excitement with crying, unrestrained movement, screaming, tears: ", These authors write.

“At the moment of unrestrained movement, children beat dishes, break toys, tore clothes, jumped out onto the balcony, into the courtyard, and there they shouted defiantly, roll on the floor, even gnaw the legs of a chair. At the same time, they shout that they can no longer, will not live, that it is better to die, and often they make attempts to commit suicide. Such states last from 10-15 minutes to 2 hours and are replaced by motor retardation with silence and low availability.

Equally short are the states with painful bodily sensations and fear of death, proceeding with motor restlessness, less often with immobility. "

Experts always urge to take any promises to commit suicide with the utmost seriousness.

For some reason, there is a myth that a person who says that he will commit suicide only scares and will never do it. The trouble with children is that they often do not have a sense of the line between a real attempt at suicide and a pretend attempt, there is no clear understanding of the irreparability of their actions - it appears only by adolescence.

It seems to a child that he will be able from somewhere to observe how they mourn him, how everyone regrets that they were unfair to him ... This is just the case when it is better to play it safe.

Signs of suicidal behavior in children:

• Multiple symptoms of depression (changes in appetite, sleep, activity).
• Social isolation, including family isolation.
• Conversations about suicide, hopelessness and helplessness.
• Aggressiveness or unwanted behavior (including sexual behavior).
• Increased propensity to take risks.
• Frequent accidents.
• Alcohol and drug use.
• Fixation on death and negative themes.
• Conversations about death and dying.
• Inability to cry or decreased emotionality.
• Handing out your belongings.

What then?

A depressive episode in a child without treatment lasts an average of 9 months. This is the duration of an entire academic year. Children usually lag sharply behind their peers in school and drop out of social life. In fact, they lose a whole year of their life.

Moms tell

Here are some life stories (names of mothers and children have been changed). In all cases, the diagnosis of depression was made by a physician.

Elizaveta, Yegor's mother: “It all started in the fifth grade. It looks like he was having a hard time coping with the new demands at school. He said that he did not want to go to school, he would not go, that he had a stomach ache. He vomited several times in front of school. Then he began to say that his legs could not walk. In general, it began to seem to me that this is a stranger, unfamiliar child: mine never slammed doors, did not yell hysterically. Conversations with him turned into walking through a minefield: you never know what it will react to and where it will explode. He began to fall asleep badly at night, cried, shouted that he would not get enough sleep, that he would not be able to go to school in the morning, and from this he completely stopped sleeping. He had a headache all the time, severe migraines began.

I almost stopped studying - two and three in all subjects fell in, one notebook for all lessons, did not do my homework, after school I hung out with friends in other people's yards. Friends said - maybe his adolescence began? But what is the teenage age of a young decade?

Then it became quite scary: he began to talk about the meaninglessness of life, about the fact that he did not want to live, that everything around was just a dream ...

I didn't do anything, sat at home and rolled my cars, which I loved to play when he was two years old. He refused to wash, get a haircut, brush his teeth, comb his hair, change clothes. He complained that he could not read - the letters did not form into words, did not understand the meaning of what he had read, could not solve the problem because he did not understand what it was about. Only then I realized what was wrong with him - and ran with him to the doctor. "

Tatiana, Anton's mother: “Two of Anton's classmates mocked him right during breaks in the corridor, under the teacher's nose, humiliated him. And at this time he still had an exacerbation of bronchial asthma. As a result - a complete loss of working capacity, loss of all school skills, severe fatigue, drowsiness and, at the same time, very poor sleep; a noticeable decrease in self-esteem, fears, was written several times at night.

The exacerbation of asthma could not stop for a long time, an infection joined, as a result of pneumonia. I assumed depression, went with him to a clinical psychologist and neurologist. The first took him to classes, the second prescribed treatment. It helped, let him go, but then he recovered for more than two years, and even now this all comes around with self-doubt. "

Galina, Seryozha's mother: “It all started in the fourth grade, in the fall. Children with difficulties in communication are probably, in principle, prone to this.

In conversations before going to bed, he began to express fears for his life and especially for mine. There was a global fear of death. He cried. A teacher at school drew attention to a sharp decline in academic performance and deteriorating behavior.

It was necessary to do something to help the child. The doctor found out everything. The treatment helped quickly, and that was the end of it. Perhaps because, as the doctor said, we caught depression at a very early stage. "

Marina, Herman's mother: “My son turned 13, he went to the seventh grade. Almost simultaneously, the father left the family and the grandmother, whom the son loved very much, died. The son was lying on the couch with a cat and did nothing. He built houses from pillows and blankets. Lost appetite. Dizziness, lightheadedness appeared.

The son began to leave school after two or three lessons. I did not teach lessons at all, and he explained this by laziness, lack of willpower: "I want, I will, I am going - but tomorrow, today I cannot." Then I fell seriously ill. While I was in the hospital, my son lived with relatives, refused to wash, brush his teeth, skipped school, lay in bed, cut off all social contacts. Treatment was prescribed, but it did not help much, although sleep and appetite were restored. A whole school year was gone. Now he studies at home, teachers come, but he cannot study unloved subjects for more than 40 minutes, headaches and nausea immediately. "

School as a reason

After seven years, school becomes the main cause of children's depression. The most common problems are heavy addiction to first and fifth grades, problems with classmates, school bullying, and unprofessional teacher behavior.

Iovchuk and Severny, in their article "On the problem of didactogenic disorders in schoolchildren," published in 2007, write: measures, the unfair attitude of the teacher, including the underestimation of grades, the use of “neurotic” tests (primarily the test for reading speed), psychological and physical violence. "

The teacher may not personally humiliate the student: the child observes how the teacher interacts with the class and is afraid of public humiliation. The child begins to ache, complain of stomach, nausea, vomits in front of school, he refuses to go there under all possible pretexts ... Fears intensify, cognitive impairments appear (children have difficulty concentrating, it is hard for them to think, they complain of their own stupidity), study becomes impossible ...

The hardest part is the reaction of parents to children's problems. Parents require a good schooling from their child. Parents engage with him additionally, increase control, deprive the child of pleasure - and all this increases depression.

On one parent's Internet resource, one mother complained: “I have already deprived him of his computer, TV and walks, New Year canceled, didn’t deserve a birthday present either. I started to use VKontakte on my phone, and I took the phone too. Now he lies on the couch all day and still does nothing. How else can I punish him? "

Sometimes parents resort to physical punishment; the consequences for a depressed child can be dire.

Iovchuk and Severny write: “The participation of parents in correctional work is extremely important, who, as a rule, do not understand the nature and depth of the child's mental disorders, at first refuse to accept psychiatric, especially psychopharmacological therapy, tend to accuse the child of“ simulation ”, laziness, hooliganism, etc. .P.

With the wrong behavior of the parents, depression becomes even more protracted and leads to deep school disadaptation (incomplete school, the need to transfer to an external study, an individual school for children with poor health and disabled children). Nevertheless, with persistent psychotherapeutic work with parents, it is most often possible to involve them in the psychocorrectional process in the interests of a sick child. Which, unfortunately, can almost never be said about teachers. "

Treat adults better!

When I shared the article quoted above on social networks, it caused a storm of indignation among the readers: this is not a child, this is an adult that needs to be treated!

Indeed, teacher harshness, often turning into cruelty, and parental perfectionism combined with anxiety, high demands on the child, and the stressful environment at home are the very factors that cause depression. It seems, really: normalize the situation in school and family - and no pills are needed.

Almost all children and adolescents have some kind of symptoms of depression, and up to 5% of children and 10-20% of adolescents may experience severe depressive conditions, ”write American psychiatrists Mash and Wolf. What is it - to treat everyone?

No: in some cases, the normalization of the situation is really enough. But some children may require both work with a therapist and treatment. How to understand when you need a doctor and when you can get by with the help of a psychologist?

“It is imperative to consult a doctor in cases where the child has not only changes in mood, experiences, occasional complaints about well-being, but also real somatic problems: sleep disorders, appetite, weight fluctuations, when he complains of pain in the arms and legs , stomach, - says clinical psychologist Natalia Naumenko. - Enuresis and encopresis also testify to neurotization against an organic background, and with this, you also need to go to the doctor.

Sudden changes in behavior should be alarming: when a child becomes irritable, aggressive, when he has fears.

Unfortunately, children's depression is poorly diagnosed, and even if parents suspect a problem, the doctor may not confirm their suspicions. Sometimes it is enough just to normalize the situation.

Here is a case from my practice: they brought in a wonderful, gifted boy of four and a half years with complaints of tantrums and irritability. While testing the child, his answers all the time contained the motive “mom will scold”, “the boy is afraid that mom will scold him” ... It turned out that the boy had recently had a sister, and his father abandoned his mother with a newborn in his arms. All mom's irritation went to the boy - mom read him morality, like an adult. In addition, over the past year, his beloved and loving grandmother died, and a teacher appeared in the kindergarten who beat him, which he did not tell his mother about.

When my mother realized what was happening, she was very scared. She has a very difficult period in her life, but she loves the child - and I am sure that in this case, the normalization of the situation is quite enough, and in two or three months the child will return to normal. But if this does not happen, this is a reason to see a doctor. "

“Everybody told me - I lost my mind, the child has pills! Pills are harmful! - says Elizabeth, Yegor's mother. - But I turned to a psychologist, who said: everything is in order with your relationship, you to a neurologist and a psychiatrist. For six months I tried to solve the problem with love and care, but my son was getting worse. The child has forgotten how to read, stopped sleeping, began to argue that not living is better than living ...

The pills are bad, yes. But not living is more harmful.

After four months of treatment, the former cheerful boy returned. But I had to help him with his studies for two more years - everything was neglected to such an extent. "

“At home I created a treatment and protection regime for Anton,” says Tatiana. - Quiet atmosphere, completely removed the TV and computer, baths, walks (when it became easier with asthma and pneumonia). She did not start her studies, so as not to get out of the rhythm of life, but she studied on her knees, wrote hand in hand, read to him herself, talked a lot on different topics in general.

The most difficult thing for him was to go to school after sick leave, he was desperately afraid. And for me the most difficult thing was not to lose my temper, communicating with the school, and not to strangle the teacher: the rage just burned me out. This rage helped to get the administration to help the child, and not drown him.

The parents helped a lot in the class, they set the children up to help their son. The school psychologist also helped a lot, she worked with the class, separately with the instigators of the persecution. The culprits brought him a public apology in the end. The teacher quit her job at the end of the year. But there are still echoes of problems even now, although three years have passed - mainly a decline in self-esteem. "

Life is more important than school. Perhaps this is the main thing that should be remembered by parents tortured by responsibility, guilt and school.

How parents can help

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises:

What to do if your child is depressed

• Talk with your child about his feelings, about what is happening in the house and school, about his concerns.
• See your doctor. Depression can be caused by medical problems. The doctor can advise psychotherapy or prescribe treatment.
• Consider any suicidal thoughts as an emergency requiring immediate assistance.

Set up healthy image life

• Provide your child healthy eating, enough sleep, exercise, positive contact with people at school and at home.
• Limit computer time and encourage physical activity, especially with others.
• Spending time alone with your child, giving praise, showing your child where their strengths are all strengthens the bond with the child.

Keep your child physically and mentally safe

• Talk to your child about bullying at school. Bullying is one of the main causes of mental health problems in children.
• Be aware that a child may be grieving or bereaved. Seek help if grief persists. If you are grieving yourself, seek help for yourself and extra support for your child.
• Reduce stress. Make short-term changes to the amount of homework, household help, and extra activities.
• All weapons, medicines (including over-the-counter) and alcohol must be securely locked.

Educate others

• Your child is not imagining symptoms.
• What looks like laziness and arrogance can be symptoms of depression.
• Discuss family history of depression to help you better understand what's going on.
• Teach your child to think and cope with tasks.
• Help your child relax with exercise and creativity. Build on his strengths.
• Talk to your child and listen to him with love and support. Teach your child to describe his feelings.
• Teach your child to look at problems in a more positive way.
• Divide problems and tasks into smaller parts so that the child can cope with them successfully.

Create a security plan

• Follow your treatment plan. Make sure your child is in therapy and on prescribed medications.
• Treatment helps, but not immediately - sometimes after a few weeks. A depressed child may not immediately see changes in mood.
• Think about who you can call when you feel bad.
• Watch out for risk factors for suicide (talking about suicide on the phone or the Internet, giving away your belongings, thinking about death, using drugs and alcohol).
• Keep the phone numbers of the child's doctor, his psychotherapist, local center for emergency psychological assistance, and emergency psychiatric close at hand.

Every person knows a little about what depression is. But only a little. One can speak of the presence of depression only if there are several components: bad mood, mental and motor inhibition. Diseases are added to this, vitality falls. And a depressive idea appears: self-blame, self-condemnation, thoughts of illness, self-deprecation. Depression is a long-term medical condition.

All this is about adults, but what about children? Even 50 years ago, it was believed that there are no depressive states in childhood, but this is not so. Children are also susceptible to this mental disorder.

IN early childhood (1-3 years) and preschool age (36 years) for a child, the world is a family, so the cause of depression is in the family. Most often - divorces, scandals. When parents quarrel, the child may take it personally, because because of his age, he is egocentric. Other traumatic circumstances can be long-term illness, death of loved ones, the birth of another child in the family, moving, going to kindergarten... And the problem is not that this happens, but that the child is almost never initiated into family relations, they hide the death of relatives, the departure of the father. Parents forget to maintain contact and closeness, and the child feels emotionally disconnected.

In children of primary school age (6 \\ 7-10 years old) depression is caused not only by intra-family problems, but also by difficulties associated with learning at school: change of class, teacher, transfer to another school, lagging behind peers due to a long illness, abusive teacher behavior, etc.

What are the characteristics of childhood depression?

It is important to understand that due to age, the child cannot say what is wrong with him. He cannot realize and convey his state of mind, he cannot define longing or anxiety. Most often, children complain of boredom, they say that they are "sad", "sad", "want to cry", "heavy on the heart", Boredom, weakness, sadness prevail in the morning. During the day, fatigue, drowsiness, and headaches are noted. By the evening, as a rule, anxiety grows with a restless look, fussiness, tension. This is accompanied by aimless running around the room, a lot of unnecessary movements, swinging the body, throwing from side to side.

The main feature of childhood depression is that it is always "masked", that is, it is difficult to recognize due to the abundance of health complaints (often mistaken for asthenia), negativism, grumpy mood, increased sensitivity, intellectual disability and behavioral disturbances.

With depression, a child may experience:

malnutrition, vomiting, constipation, loose stools, abdominal pain, impaired appetite;

heart pain, heart rhythm disturbance, vegetative-vascular dystonia;

cough, inspiration;

eczema, neurodermatitis, psoriasis, pruritus;

headaches, fainting, dizziness, temporary impairment of hearing, vision, speech (aphonia - no voice), loss of the ability to stand and walk.

Prolonged increase in temperature within 37.1-38.0 ° C without inflammation.

The danger of this manifestation of depression is that it limits the child's options. They begin to protect him from everything, and the child is fixed on himself and his illnesses.

Intellectual retardation is manifested by slowness of speech, long deliberation of answers to simple questions, refusal to play games that require mental stress and attention, unwillingness to listen to once favorite books. After 6 years of age, the slowness of thinking increases, manifesting itself in the difficulties of comprehending and memorizing educational material. At the same time, children cry a lot, lamenting that "there will still be a deuce". They cannot concentrate, they become extremely absent-minded, they forget to prepare lessons, bring notebooks and textbooks to school, complain that “I try to understand and do not understand”.

Behavioral disorders include rudeness, violation of social norms, rules, and decreased academic performance. In general, the manifestation of depression in the form of aggression with a decline in working capacity, irritability and timidity is typical for children from early school age. It is difficult for the child to get up in the morning, it is difficult to think.

How to suspect that a child has depression?

From an early age, a person has his own character, his own line of life. Therefore, it is worth paying attention if the child is SUDDENLY:

Cries for the slightest reason: when offended, remarked or encouraged, at any question, suggestion, an outsider coming into the house, the appearance of a new toy, etc.

Angry, fighting, grumbling, naughty, rude, just "got out of hand".

Indifferent, overly obedient.

He started to hurt, lost his appetite, became drowsy, or had insomnia. He falls asleep hard, sleeps intermittently, wakes up crying, sees terrible dreams.

Poorly thinking, studying poorly, dissatisfied with himself.

I became afraid to be left alone in the whole world, to lose my mother, that my mother would not come to kindergarten, that on the way home she would be hit by a car or she would be killed by bandits, “the world will perish”, “the end of the world”, “atomic war”, “neutron war "," people will die "," I will die. "

Unsmiling, refuses to answer questions, distrustful, does not want to approach other children.

He is more willing to play alone, avoiding games that require intellectual exertion and attention.

Refuses favorite and new toys, the game becomes more primitive, and younger students return to forgotten toys and spend the whole day playing.

Losing weight, becoming pale, he has blue under his eyes, a drooping or tense posture, a gloomy or sad expression on his face, a restless or dull look.

The mother ceases to let go of her, asks to be picked up, rocked, infant intonations appear in speech.

He began to suck his thumb, bite his nails, hair ends, collar, and curl his hair.

Has become slow. He dresses for a long time, often being late for school because of this, he cannot run during recess, avoids outdoor games, and looks lethargic and awkward in physical education lessons.

Reacts painfully to the slightest injustice in relation to themselves and others, experiencing keen sympathy, including in relation to animals and inanimate objects.

She blames those around her for all the problems: mom, dad, teachers, educators.

What can parents do to help their child?

Parents should not try to diagnose themselves and self-medicate. If you suspect depression in your child, be sure to show it to a specialist. Depression is diagnosed by psychologists. They do not have the right to make a diagnosis, but they can assume the presence of this disorder and refer them to a psychiatrist or neuropsychiatrist, who will already determine the type of depression and select treatment, if necessary, medication. It is good if a psychologist and a psychiatrist work in tandem and help the child together with the parents.

Children need to be seen, heard, felt, touched and loved. The more emotional and physical contact a parent has with a child, the better. Strengthen your child's attachment to you. How to do it, H. Newfeld wrote well in his book "Don't Miss Your Children". And there is also an opinion that a child needs at least 20 touches per day. At the same time, it is good if the child has a quiet space where he can be alone.

Parents should understand that any change in life, both negative and positive, is stressful for a child. The first thing a parent can do is talk to the child, find out how he relates to the event. It is important to discuss any changes with the child: it was like this, but now it is like this. This also applies to the death of loved ones. The second is to accept the state of the other, not to devalue the experience with words like "yes, everything is fine with you." Misunderstanding from others only aggravates depression. Therefore, parents can empathize and let the child grieve. It is important for the child to feel that the parents understand him and are not afraid of what is happening. It may be worth lowering requirements and workloads.

The child is so arranged that his socialization occurs through play. He loses any situation. So it's good to just play together. Give the child the opportunity to choose the plot of the game himself or to play up a specific disturbing situation.

It is important for parents to respond appropriately to bad behavior. Laziness, reluctance to learn, and rudeness are often misunderstood, and harsh disciplinary action only exacerbates depression. Teaching a child to share their experiences, to be open, to develop positive thinking is a lot of work for both parents and children. Celebrate even small successes, focus on achievements and hopes. Remember what worked well, what was enjoyable, what joint activities pleased, and start doing it again.

Belousova Ekaterina,
psychologist