Is Your Child Depressed?
Persistent feelings of sadness that interfere with the ability to function in daily life. Yale Medicine: Depression in Children and Teens
I vividly recall what I believe was the first time I had a deep feeling of sadness and not belonging while amid laughing and talking. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was outside playing with my sisters and laughing with a neighbor. I remember the apartment we lived in and the school one of my sister's and I attended. I couldn't explain the feeling, all I knew was that it was there.
One day recently I asked my sister what grade I was in when we attended that school. After some thinking, we both agreed I was in kindergarten. I guess I was surprised because I never thought about the fact that I was so young with such big sadness.
Most of the time, people saw me laughing and talking...and talking! haha Yep. I was a talker. And I loved to run and play. But sometimes I was combative and irritable. There were also days when I just wanted to cry, and did, many times for no reason (or so I thought). I felt so torn. When I look back now, and while researching childhood depression, it seems so obvious that's what I was dealing with, but I grew up in a time when the term, a depressed child, was unheard of.
It’s when these feelings of sadness become a part of a child's everyday life, even in situations they’re able to control, that it could be depression. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Children's Mental Health
Signs of depression in children can often manifest as negative behavior, or acting out, which leads some to discipline the behavior rather than treat (or get help for) what could be an underlying condition. We may scold them for walking around looking sad all the time instead of taking the time to talk and listen to them. People tend to not want to be around those who are always sad or the opposite, always irritated.
Below are some symptoms of childhood depression Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
o Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable a lot of the time
o Not enjoy doing the things they've always enjoyed doing
o Changes in appetite: eating a lot more or a lot less
o Changes in sleeping patterns: sleeping a lot more or a lot less
o Trouble concentrating
o Moving slowly/sluggishly most of the time, or the opposite, being fidgety and restless
o Feeling Guilty
o Feeling Worthless
o Feeling Useless
o Decreased and/or little energy
o Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much
My Prayer
O Lord, Please Hide our children under the shadow of Your wings,
from the wicked who oppress them,
from their deadly enemies who surround them.
Please give Your angels charge over them,
to keep them in all their ways.
In their hands they shall bear them up,
lest they dash their foot against a stone.
And Lord, if they feel that darkness covers them,
and the night is the only light around them,
I know that even the darkness is not
dark to You and conceals nothing from You,
But the night shines as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
For you formed their innermost parts;
You knit them together in their mother's womb.
They are fearfully and wonderfully made!
Thank you for keeping them in the palm
of Your hand!
Amen
Psalm 17:8; 91:11; 139:11-14
Yours in Christ,
Sharmayne