CONTACT: Beth Salamon
Saint Barnabas Medical Center Public Relations
(973) 322-9901
Identifying and Helping Children and Teens
Who Suffer From Depression
LIVINGSTON, NJ., October 24, 2003---Many adults look back fondly on their youth and imagine childhood to be a carefree, trouble-free period. However, according to the National Mental Health Association, depression affects as many as one in every 33 children and one in eight adolescents.
The stresses of childhood and adolescence can include the desire for peer acceptance, parental approval and achievement in academic and athletic endeavors. Depression can also stem from a clinical condition rather than the state of affairs in a child's life. Children and teens with clinical depression have a serious health problem that impacts thoughts and actions.
“Depression may be caused by genetic factors, stress and a decrease in certain brain neurotransmitters,” says Mark Paul Faber, M.D., Director of the Division of Pediatric Psychiatry at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. “It can be evaluated and treated effectively.”
Untreated depression can lead to suicide, which has become the second leading cause of death among fifteen to twenty-four-year olds in the United States. The Division of Pediatric Psychiatry at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and the American Academy of Pediatrics offer the following information on diagnosing depression in your child.
Warning signs of depression in a child include:
- Sad or hopeless feelings
- Not enjoying everyday pleasures
- Missing school, falling behind or earning lower grades
- Complaints of headaches, stomache aches
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Losing interest in friends or activities usually enjoyed
- Avoiding people; withdrawn, reclusive
- Hurting other people or animals; damaging property
- Major changes in eating or sleeping habits
- Hostile or aggressive behavior
Depressed adolescents may show:
- Early morning awakening or increased sleeping.
- Unexplained or severe, violent, or rebellious behavior; fights with peers.
- Withdrawal from family and friends
- Running away
- Persistent boredom, difficulty in concentrating
- Drug and/or alcohol abuse
- Unexplained decline in the quality of schoolwork
- Unusual neglect of appearance
- Radical personality change
- Somatic complaints, fatigue vague or localized pains
- Preoccupation with death
- Giving away prized possessions
- Feelings of excessive guilt, worthlessness, self-reproach
- Expressing suicidal thoughts, even jokingly.
If parents or other adults suspect a child may have depression, there are some steps that can be taken to better understand the problem and help the child or adolescent:
- Note the duration, frequency and severity of troubling behavior.
Keep a log of the behaviors displayed by the child. This will help in the diagnosis of the problem.
- Get accurate information from libraries, hotlines, the Web and other sources.
A variety of web sites offer information, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institute of Mental Health.
- Take the child to see a mental health professional evaluation and diagnosis.
If he or she is exhibiting several of the warning signs, the child should be evaluated. The evaluation may include psychological testing, laboratory tests and consultation with other specialists.
- Ask questions about treatments and services.
A comprehensive treatment plan may include psychotherapy, ongoing evaluation and, in some cases, medication. Optimally, the treatment plan is developed with the family, and whenever possible, the child.
The Saint Barnabas Pediatric Specialty Center’s Division of Pediatric Psychiatry at the Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center treats young patients in a range of areas, including depression, anxiety, ADHD and autism. For an appointment, please call (973) 322-7600.
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