Investigating Depression in Children

829 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Depression research paper introduction

Investigating Depression in Children During childhood years, children are almost as susceptible to being

depressed as adults. Many adults to not realize that being a child can

be very frustrating, and they often feel powerless. Children can have

a lot of stress in their lives and cannot deal with it as easily as

adults. They have many concerns such as school, peers, parental

acceptations, etc. Childhood depression is a mental illness that

affects children's behavior and moods. If it is not treated, in years

to come it may lead to school failure, use of alcohol and/or drugs, or

even suicide.

Depression in children is caused by a possible combination of several

things. It can involve the child's environment, genes, or children

with medical problems. The most common causes of depression evolve

from children who have been abused, who have chaotic families or

households, non-consistent parents, neglect, or other stressful

events. Children who experience loss or who have learning disorders

are more likely to be diagnosed with depression. If bad things happen

to a child and there is a family history of depression, a depressed

child is a very likely outcome. Unlike depressed children, those who

are without so many stresses in their lives do not have as much

likelihood to become easily depressed as they get older. Each child's

depression is individual, and causes will be different for each one.

The depression could be wholly chemical, wholly due to psycholo...

... middle of paper ...

...the depression is severe enough or recurrent, the

child and family may want to consider longer-term maintenance.

Depression can be a long-term illness, which will follow them as they

grow older. Since a young person who has had a depression is more

vulnerable to drug abuse, one should start out early with preventative

measures. The primary care doctor can help monitor the child if they

relapse, substance abuse and social skills problems during and after

the psychiatric treatment.

The symptoms of depression should be made aware to all parents and

teachers. Depressed children should not be taken lightly, because it

can have very serious effects if it is not treated. Adults must keep

in mind that being a child is not as carefree as they may remember,

and children are almost just as susceptible of depression as they are.

Show More
Related

  • The Beck Depression Inventory-II

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is the latest version of one of the most extensively used assessments of depression that utilizes a self-report method to measure depression severity in individuals aged thirteen and older (Beck, Steer & Brown, 1996). The BDI-II proves to be an effective measure of depression as evidenced by its prevalent use in both clinical and counseling settings, as well as its use in studies of psychotherapy and antidepressant treatment (Beck, Steer & Brown, 1996). Even though the BDI-II is meant to be administered individually, the test administration time is only 5 to 10 minutes and Beck, Steer & Brown (1996) remark that the interpretive guidelines presented in the test manual are straightforward, making the 21 item Likert-type measure an enticing option to measure depression in appropriate educational settings. However it is important to remember that even though the BDI-II may be easy to administer and interpret, doing so should be left to highly trained individuals who plan to use the results in correlation with other assessments and client specific data when diagnosing a client with depression. An additional consideration is the response bias that can occur in any self-report instrument; Beck, Steer & Brown (1996, pg. 1) posit that clinicians are often “faced with clients who alter their presentation to forward a personal agenda that may not be shared.” This serves as an additional reminder that self-report assessments should not be the only assessment used in the diagnoses process.

    Read More

  • Children and Antidepressants

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    The content is the most important part of an article. It needs to have a point with supporting details. Elias addresses many issues and backs them up with facts. She gives many health experts' opinions and their different views on the matter. For example, Elias also displays statistics showing the recent percentage changes within different time periods. The figures draw interest and shock to the article, and it makes the reader more interested. Although the article did not explain how the antidepressant drugs worked, she touched on the dangers and effects. If a person needs more information, or if one was more interested, they could obtain more information by researching depression further. There are many more treatments than just medications. One can go to therapy sessions or maybe more parental advisory would help a child on the right track. There are also many different types of depression. All the information that Elias focused on in the article was relevant to the topic of kids on antidepressants for depression.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Antidepressants On Children And Teens

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the FDA, about 2.5% of children and around 8% of adolescents are affected by depression (Temple). A common way to treat depression is by taking antidepressants. Children and teens have also been prescribed antidepressants for various reasons other than depression such as OCD and anxiety disorders. While it is legal for teenagers and children to take antidepressants, many people are concerned with the issues that taking antidepressants have. Children and teens should be allowed to take antidepressants only when other forms of therapy don’t work. Antidepressants are serious drugs that have severe warnings when children and teens use them. There is also an increased risk of worsening depression and suicide in children and teens, especially in the when they begin to take it. Even the less severe side effects can make quite a negative impact on life.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Medicated Child

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    The documentary “The Medicated Child” gave me a lot of insight into the lives of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When we hear and learn about bipolar disorder, we do not normally think of children. However, there are many children diagnosed with bipolar disorder ranging from all ages. As we saw in the documentary, bipolar disorder can be very hard on both the child and the family, so finding a cure that is effective and safe is important. The video also highlighted how little research there has been on the effectiveness of antidepressants on children.

    Read More

  • Opposing Viewpoints on Depression

    2443 Words  | 5 Pages

    Depression is much more common than most people think. Because it is essentially an invisible illness and is largely in the mind, it is difficult to correctly diagnose it and most people suffer for months, years, or even decades with depression. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or an attempt to commit suicide.” Most medical definitions are able to explain what happens and why it does, but after carefully examining this one, we only notice that it explains what happens, but not why. Usually, the symptoms of an illness are...

    Read More

  • Teenage Depression Statistics

    1826 Words  | 4 Pages

    Twenty percent of teens in America today suffer from at least one symptom of depression.( Teenage Depression Statistics ) Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. Depression symptoms include loss of emotional expression, feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, and social withdrawal (Teenage Depression Statistics )Holden Caulfield, in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, suffers from symptoms of depression. Because of his mental illness, he is a misunderstood, confused young character who is in search of his identity and place in the world. He suffers from symptoms of depression, which are rooted in a lack of closure concerning his brother's death. The devastation Holden experiences after Allie's death is understandable. This unfortunately leads to a lack of personal motivation, low self esteem and compulsive lying. Holden's inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness in overlooking the obvious has resulted in a chronic lack of motivation. Holden lacks the necessary ability to motivate himself, which is required to survive in the 'real' world. Holden feels no need to self motivate, because all those who survive in the 'real' world, he considers phonies. He is unable to realize the importance of progress, maturity and responsibility.

    Read More

  • Stress within Women

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...they are becoming too stressed out and need to take the time to relax and let it all out.

    Read More

  • Childhood Depression

    2988 Words  | 6 Pages

    Most adults and many children and adolescents have a few bad days here and there, sometimes three or four in a row. When this happens, your mood is bad, you feel like jumping on people for nothing. You sleep, but you do not rest. You eat, but you are not hungry. Your life is one big chore. Everything that was fun is work and what usually is work is like walking with lead boots. Often you have stomach aches, headaches, aching, dizziness and other symptoms, but the doctors can not find anything wrong. When family and friends want to talk, you do not listen. If you can, you stay alone and wish they would all just go away. And you think about what you have got to do, and you wish you could put it off for ever. And about what you have done, and about what could go wrong, and how you could never live like this for 30 more years.

    Read More

  • Major Depressive Disorder

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    The exact causes of depression seem to differ immensely, but there are some who believe that it maybe caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, or that it may even be hereditary. Still there are others who believe that it is a combination of social, biological, emotional, psychological, and economical influences that may cause someone who has no family history of depression to develop even a mild case of depression.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Childhood Depression

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    Several studies in childhood depression have shown the importance and effectiveness of family intervention, family participation in the treatment, parents ' demonstration of positive control over the child, and lower stress levels within the family (Sokolova 4). Hence, there is emerging support for the value of psychoeducational family programs in childhood depression (Sokolova 4). In this program, the sessions are taught by the professional volunteers in the field of depression (Sokolova 4). The sessions can be held in hospitals, schools and even online, open to all the parents, no matter whether their kids have depression. After studying in these complimentary classes, the parents will be able to identify the symptoms of childhood depression, and get to know how to approach a depressed child, how to help him/her, and also the information about mood disorders, interpersonal skills, stress reduction, medication and medication side effects (Sokolova 4). Also, participants of the programs can get to meet other parents, and discuss common issues such as symptoms, social skills, approaches to accepting childhood depression disorder with them (Sokolova 4). Through this program, we can greatly increase the awareness and knowledge of parents in the area of child depression. And then the parents may able to pay more attention to children’s mental health, give their children a more relax circumstances to grow up, and help their children with depression to get timely

    Read More

  • Avoid Reuptake Inhibitors Psychology

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    Do we do this? Typically not. We seem to generally rely on medication to get us through these feelings. SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) are the main type of medication used to treat depression and they work by blocking the reuptake of serotonin letting it remain longer in the synaptic cleft. SSRIs have been found to increase the likelihood of suicide in children, teenagers, and adults with Paxil being one of the biggest offenders (Breggin, 2008). So let us pretend that we are giving these medications to child. Keep in mind they have been tested on adults, not children, so we do not even know if they work, and we know they may cause suicide risk. This is also assuming our child is simply dealing with ‘depression’ but what if the child is ‘bi-polar?’ Will we give them Paxil for the depression, but then we will probably need to throw in Xanax for anxiety, so now this child has been given a few drugs to battle it out inside of their developing brains. With all of this and then the stress of being told there is something wrong with them, they probably cannot sleep. What do we do? Throw more medications into the cocktail until this child is spellbound. Now let us sit this child down and ask how they are feeling. One of two things will probably happen, the child will sit perfectly still (stupor) and agree that the drugs are working thanks to some anosognosia and a little

    Read More

  • Childhood Depression

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    Childhood depression has only been recognized as a real clinical problem for about twenty-two years. Before that time, children that exhibited signs that are now recognized as depression were thought to be behavioral problems that the child would grow out of. Psychiatrists believed that children were too emotionally and cognitively immature to suffer from true depression. Childhood was thought to be a carefree, happy time, void of worry and concerns and therefore it was thought that their problems were not serious enough to merit depression. Traumas such as divorce, incest and abuse were not clearly understood how they could effect children in the long range. Childhood depression differs in many aspects from adult depression and widely went unrecognized academic performance, withdrawal and rejection of friends and favorite activities. Some exhibit hyperactivity, while others complain of fatigue and illness often. Many times these symptoms are thought to ‘be just a phase’ in their children, and overlooked as signs of depression.

    Read More

  • Essay On Duel Diagnosis

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    When someone is depressed or has signs of depression, it becomes easy for the person to fall into destructive behaviors. Depression could lead to thoughts and feelings of worthlessness and an inability to cope with life’s challenges, or even everyday things. Substance abuse plays a factor here because people start abusing substances to cope with their depression. It becomes a vicious cycle now because the substance is slowly taking over your mind and body, and when you lose control over the substance it can make you feel depressed and depression is why you took the substance in the first place. This cycle needs to be treated as a whole, so when seeking treatment for issues you should consider a rehab center that has duel diagnosis treatment programs.

    Read More

  • Psychosocial Stressors: The Mars Mission

    1767 Words  | 4 Pages

    This, in turn, makes them become irritable and illogical and prone to moodiness and

    Read More

  • Clinical Depression In School

    330 Words  | 1 Pages

    For some with Clinical Depression it may be hard asking for help since it seems as if there is nowhere to turn. However, not getting help or telling anybody about the symptoms that they are experiencing will have a huge impact. First of all, their performance in school may plummet. Depression makes it hard for people to concentrate so avoiding help will allow the depression to grow and make assignments difficult to understand and complete in a timely manner. Evading help will also result in reckless behavior since those with depression may feel angry or bad about themselves. This means they will be less likely to care about themselves and think of the consequences of their actions. As a result, they are putting themselves in risky situations

    Read More

More about Investigating Depression in Children

Open Document