Childhood Depression

Have you ever find day dreamed that you could revert back to the carefree days of your childhood? Most people think children have absolutely nothing to worry about, do they? No jobs to worry about, no bills to pay, bosses to answer to, or obligations that they have to keep. Children have none of the normal-daily stresses that us adults have. But, is childhood really a time of sheer happiness? Truth be told, a childs days are far from being without stress.

Kids are faced with many difficulties that they are just not equipped to handle emotionally: divorce, poverty, learning disabilities, abuse, and neglect are only a few. You kids by nature feel helpless against these situations and the effects could follow them into adulthood.

But, what if your child doesn`t fall into any of these categories? Do you think this will guarantee a childhood free from depression? The answer is surely no.

A major factor in childhood depression is that it may be an illness that was handed down biologically from a parent or grandparent. Children with an inherited tendency for depression will be highly susceptible to the strains caused by the need for peer acceptance. This is normally caused by an imbalance in the brains chemistry, it could appear to you that there is nothing severely wrong in your child's life that would warrant him/her being depressed. Same as in adult depression, a child's perception of his/her world could be distorted. They may feel that they are unlovable, bad, or stupid even though these things simply are not true.

Further complicating matters is the fact that young children do not have labels for these feelings and cannot vocalize what it is that's happening to them. Many times they just don`t realize that they are not feeling normal. To certain kids, it may seem that this is just the way it is. What can you as the parent of a child, teacher, or other concerned adult do to help? Most importantly - recognize of the problem.