Depression

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Depression and Children

          The problem of childhood and teenage depression has always existed. But in the past two decades the incidence of depression has also shown a tremendous rise. A depressed child may refuse to go to school and pretend to be sick. Depression in adolescence may present itself a little differently, with increased irritability, anger and mood fluctuations. Recent data suggests that the incidence of depression may be on the rise among people younger than 20 years. This may be related to alcohol and drug abuse in this age group.

SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION

          Everyone of us goes through phases of feeling low, unable to cope or stressed out. That is not depression, it is life! The big question is whether what you are feeling is beyond life’s normal highs and lows. The basic difference, of course, is that the symptoms of depression are more persistent than just feeling the blues off and on. Depression is the most prevalent of all emotional disorders. This may vary from feelings of slight sadness to utter misery and dejection. It brings together a variety of physical and psychological or emotional symptoms which together constitute a syndrome.

It is not always easy to diagnose depression clinically. The most striking symptoms of depression are feelings of acute sense of loss and inexplicable sadness, loss of energy and loss of interest. The patient usually feels tired and lacks interest in the world around him. Sleep disturbance is frequent. Usually the patient wakes up depressed at 4 or 5 in the morning and is unable to return to sleep. Other disturbed sleep patterns are difficulty in getting off to sleep on going to bed at night, nightmares and repeated waking from midnight onwards.