Introduction
Depression in children is a psychological disorder that brings out a noticeably lowered mood in the child. This illness can cause psychological, psychosocial and physical symptoms, which can have serious consequences for the child. Depression can be a leading symptom, or part of a wider mental illness. The initial manifestation is possible from infancy. Depression in children is a serious problem, which is why a doctor should be consulted early on.
Causes
The causes of depression in children are very diverse and can be seen, for example, in biochemical processes, psychological and social factors, and genetic predisposition. In childhood, which is the time of vulnerability, personality development, orientation and development of social life, irregularities in the psychosocial experience of the child are dominant. The most frequent and most serious reasons are mentioned here, which leave further options open as causes.
The numerically frequent separation/divorce of parents in industrialised countries, which deprives the child of its protective environment. Family disputes and problems can also be at the forefront here. The loss of one parent and the subsequent difficult existence of a half-orphan/orphan confront the child at an early age with major stress situations and seek a sometimes complex solution to the problem.
In addition, every dying process of a close person represents a potential reason. In addition, a child can be confronted with an existentially threatening situation through abusively applied sexual assaults. Also the otherness of one’s own personality at school can lead to depression through regular rejection and bullying.
Depending on the personal background, depending on the social milieu, premature pregnancy or contact with alcohol and drugs can lead to rejection and be the basis for mental illness. A low income of the parents could also be identified as a potential cause. The existence of a physical or mental illness of the parents is a serious cause of childhood depression. In this context, both a current and a previous depressive episode of one parent is associated with an increased risk for the child itself to also become depressed.
Symptoms
Typical accompanying symptoms of depression in childhood can be transferred to the child’s age. This often results in a delayed state of physical and mental development. The relapse into behaviour patterns of younger age can be observed in severe cases.
The developmental deficit is accompanied and possibly caused by regular eating and sleeping disorders as well as headaches and stomach aches. This often results in over- or underweight. Motor and linguistic abilities stagnate or even regress.
The ability to pay attention is usually greatly reduced. The altered developmental progress results in great differences to children of the same age. A low level of independence, trust and interest in new things follow the constant dejection and anxiety.
Social contact with children of the same age also suffers from this and leads to loneliness. Feelings of guilt and frequent self-criticism are strongly pronounced and can lead to announcement or in very pronounced cases even to suicide attempts. Aggressive behaviour in the context of depression is a multifaceted symptom and can be directed against other people, oneself or objects.
Reasons can be high emotional, social and performance-related demands and create an apparently unmanageable state. Frequent loneliness and constant examination of oneself often leads to aggression under the circumstances mentioned. These can end in vandalism, fights or suicide attempts, for example.
The latter is a frequently occurring problem in children from puberty onwards. Sleep disorders and depression can usually be observed together. A typical characteristic is early awakening in the morning, but also restless sleep at night.
The length and quality of sleep can be easily assessed by those affected. Changes in the psyche can be overestimated and cause worry and fear for one’s own well-being, which is the cause of sleep disorders. In addition, a persistently tense mental state contributes to such irregularities.
The system of messenger substances in the brain also comes into focus. Since an unbalanced control of certain hormones is usually the cause of depression and this dysregulation is also important for the sleep rhythm, both usually occur together. This topic might also be of interest to you: Sleep disordersNightmares and sleep disorders have been proven to occur frequently in depression.
The irritable, anxious and depressed behaviour that occurs during a depressive episode often supports the development of nightmares. Overall, girls suffer more frequently from the above-mentioned unwanted dreams than boys of the same age. However, in the context of depression, the risk of attempted suicide may be greatly increased if the child reports nightmares as an accompanying symptom.
It is therefore essential that frequent nightmares (more than two per week) are clarified. Drugs that the child takes can also cause them. Therefore the origin of the nightmares should be clarified.
The involuntary weight loss is a very unspecific symptom of many diseases. Without an intentionally strict dietary lifestyle, this process always makes a doctor sit up and take notice. Weight loss is the consequence of a certain quality and manifestation of a disease.
The change in body weight in the context of mental illness can often be caused by a disturbed appetite. Depression in childhood is often accompanied by abdominal pain, constipation (constipation) or diarrhoea and sleep disturbance, and in addition to the depressed mood, it can bring about a change in eating habits. The accompanying symptoms often prevent a regular daily routine and thus prevent, among other things, a healthy and distributed food intake throughout the day.
Children who suffer from depression at a young age often feel that they are not prepared for the emotional and social expectations placed on them. Thus, constructive interaction with classmates in this situation often does not seem real. The child falls into isolation.
Without involving other people of the same age to cope with their own stress at school, this quickly leads to a loss of motivation. In addition, enthusiasm for previously interesting topics becomes increasingly difficult and can present itself to the outside world as a memory disorder. The reduced ability to concentrate of the affected student often results in a drop in performance at school.
This deterioration is usually first noticed by parents and teachers. Therefore, regular questioning of the child’s sensitivities at school with regard to depression can have a preventive effect. The lack of drive is seen as a reduced or missing ability of the human drive.
The drive is the basis of all action and can be seen both as will or ability. It serves to carry out activities to achieve necessary and voluntary goals. Among other things, depression is caused by a lack of drive and is thus defined by it.
A distinction must be made between occasional and permanent listlessness. If it occurs over a longer period of time, it can lead to a neglect of oneself and of social contacts. In pronounced symptomatology, it leads to the omission of necessary everyday activities of life, such as self-care.
These include, among many other activities, maintaining social contacts, personal hygiene, nutrition or professional activities. Thus the lack of drive in the context of depression can have far-reaching consequences for an individual. A typical characteristic of depression is also a marked lack of concentration.
However, these initially appear very unspecific and the question of the origin of the child’s lack of concentration is often not placed in a disease context. A concentration disorder can be seen, for example, in the fact that what has just been experienced or what has just been read can no longer be reproduced. If this persists for days or weeks, the affected child gets into situations that are perceived as very unpleasant.
In the context of a depression, these quickly lead to self-doubt and to questioning one’s own intelligence. However, the sporadic weakness of the day, which occurs sporadically in every person, differs from an illness-related concentration disorder. This is very much dependent on other factors, such as sleep, nutrition and stress. It is therefore very important to take a closer look at the current accompanying circumstances in which the child finds itself in the current life situation.
