Contents
Introduction
Depression is defined as “persistent feelings of sadness and despair
and loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure” (Myers, 2011). According
to many researchers and doctors, depression has emerged as one of the major
problems among the children. The rate of suicide in North America is 11/100000.
This creates the countrywide suicide rate considerably greater than the nation.
The suicide rate in the United States has been reported to 30000 resulting in
mainly from depression. Two third of suicides are being happened by
depression. High suicide rate is shown among
the teenagers and children; untreated depression is the cause for the death of children (Gelfand & Teti, 1990). Depression in
children is a serious mental illness, which causes pain for both the family as
well as for the children. Children are the future of the country; however, many
children are suffering from many mental sicknesses, which affect their regular growth
and development. Depression is truly painful and causes children to obligate
suicide. There are various types of depression, which have typical cause,
symptoms and effects. The current paper will analyze the causes of depression, negative
impact of depression on the children and treatment process for depression among
children.
Mental & emotional behaviors
Depression is the emotional and
mental behavior, which affects everybody including children. Many researchers
have done researches to find out the main causes of depression. Although there
is no clearly defined cause for mental sickness and this varies from person to
person, yet depression is caused by a concoction of circumstances and
biological factors. It might be caused due to various factors including genetics
as well. Family history also triggers depression in children and teenagers. The
Genetics may play vital role in depression; however, as per the doctors as well
as many researchers, it is not the single reason of depression.
In addition to this, many events of
life also play a significant role in depression. Children might also be
depressed after some tragic or sad incident such as death of loved ones. The
death of a loved one affects their mental health largely. They are unable to
recover from it. Some other factors include divorce or a remarriage of parents.
The children have no choice but to accept the truth and at the same time, they
start suffering from depression. Changing of schools and shifting homes have
also been found to be dominant factor in contributing depression.
According to Myers (2011), negative
family ambiance badly affects the minds of children. As an outcome to this, it
causes depression among children. School stress is also one of the vital keys
of depression among children. Children cannot find out the solution as they are
not mature enough to solve these issues and eventually start suffering from
depression. There are various signs or symptoms of depression such as sadness,
bleakness, boredom, crying and loss of interest in doing any kind work.
Analyzing Depression
In accordance with many doctors and
researchers, there are various kinds of depression that an individual might
experience (Kaslow, Rehm & Siegel, 1984).
The symptom of depression is seen within the children from their early childhood.
The most diagnosed kind of depression in children consists of Major Depression,
Bipolar disorder and Dysthymia. Major depression is also identified as the
medical depression, unipolar depression as well as vital depressive anarchy. This
depression lasts from seven to nine months and its signs are lack of enjoyment
in actions, sadness, sleep troubles, loss of hunger, and lack of concentration,
memory troubles and pains.
Children who suffer from this
situation often feel abandoned, hopeless and worthless in their lives and fail
to fix their present conditions.
Another
depression, which is found common in children, is Dysthymia this is known as
double depression. The signs of
Dysthymia generally emerge in children; however, in very few cases do not
appear until the middle age. Dysthymia depression lasts up to two weeks and almost
similar as major depression. However,
there are some differences in symptoms and span of depression. Reasons of
Dysthymia depression in children are bad grades in school, shyness, communal
withdrawal and disagreement with family as well as friends. Three percent of
population is suffering from Dysthymia depression in the globe.
Kapornai, K., & Vetró, Á. (2008)
proposes that bipolar disorder often known as manic-depressive sickness is also
found among children. In this particular depression, there are several signs that
change the moods of children. The children who suffer from this disorder have
different mood swings. Sometimes they feel very happy and satisfied with their
daily activities and sometimes they feel down and sad for no reason. Other
symptoms of bipolar depression disorder include changes in the energy level,
action level and the capability to do every day work. Bipolar disorder is the
main cause of breaking any kind of relationship as well as can lead to suicide.
Effects of Depression
Depression has high impact on the
mind and physical activities of children. According to various doctors and care
practitioners, mental stability of children might be hampered due to this
issue. Children are not able to focus on their education and other curriculum
activities. Doctors stated that children always suffer from some tension and
stress that affect their minds. In the year of 2006, Mr. Weisz stated that children
could be de-motivated or demoralized due to the depression. Children might not
be socialized due to this issue.
Parents and care workers are being
concerned about this issue. They always face trouble due to the issues
associated with children. According to doctors and other officials, children should
be provided a sound living and educational environment where they can lead
their lives happily. Thinking capability of children needs to be explored.
Depressed children cannot make any serious activity and cannot focus on their
daily activities. According to the observers, if human beings face depression at
an early age, then it can be harmful for their careers (Kaufman et.al, 2006).
Treatment:
The
treatment of depression includes psychological and clinical procedures. Nevertheless,
the treatment strategy should be planed individually, taking into consideration
the child's age, developmental stage and risk/protective characteristics (e.g.
psychopathology in the family, individual temperament, cognitive and emotional
regulatory factors, existing co-morbidity and experience of stressful life
events), and the medication or psychotherapy preferences of the patient and the
care giver. In primary care practice, however, treatment options are limited by
lack of availability of trained psychotherapists (Hazell, 2012).
Conclusion
The current research paper showcased
the impact of depression in children. With the help of this paper, overall
understanding of depression among children is highlighted. It is observed that
different factors create depression in children’s mind. Depression creates
different health issues among children due to which they suffer badly. Parents
and doctors should focus on this matter so that children can be rescued from
the complicated circumstances.
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