Depression and children

[Susan]

Depression in kids likes company – usually we’ll find that its not the only problem they have – it is almost always associated with other problems too – so all the more reason to diagnose correctly and treat. Imagine treating depression while the other problems are developing in the background – treatment also gets messed up! Some of the accompanying problems that come with depression are ADHD, learning disorders, delinquent behavior, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, stress, phobias, and then some! The right intervention method or therapy can address the specific problem and help the kid lead a better life. The child must be evaluated accurately. Most of these disorders can be treated with medications. Individual therapy helps those who come from families that fight all the time and help them understand and control their anger and mood and communicate better.

[Kim Wilde]

Its not enough to evaluate just the kid! The doctor has to evaluate the school environment also and how the kid’s being affected by it. School’s a likely place, along with peer pressure for a kid’s depression to develop and grow. If school is assessed, then it is easier to understand the stress the kid goes through, to help them handle it so that they recover from the problem without making any negative impact on their academic progress. It helps to talk to the school counselor, teachers, parents, principal, psychologist and who ever else is involved. Some interventions used are: psycho-educational testing, speech and occupational therapy and in school counseling May a change in curriculum can help. A different classroom might help. Also matters who the kid sits with in the class.

[Leo]

If school and kid are evaluated, so must be their home and parents – most kids are messed up as a result of their home life. Just like the school situation must be assessed and remedied, I think the home must also go through the same process – after all the kid is entitled to emotional support from family. Family therapy and couples therapy work – parents can reassess their own roles, minimize their conflict situations, communicate better and generally provide a good environment where the kid can recover comfortably. Psychologists suggest behavioral reward systems. Research shows that most kids with emotional disorders are often living with a lone parent or unemployed parents – problems at home affect children when they grow up – and if they don’t know how to cope, they become depressed.

[Susan]

While browsing, I kept coming across ‘bipolar disorder’ related to depression and anxiety. So many children and adolescents seem to suffer from bipolar disorder that is also called manic-depressive illness. Apparently bipolar disorder is not so easy to diagnose in young people since symptoms are not obvious – it seems to be similar to symptoms for a lot of other juvenile mental problems. Also the symptoms of bipolar disorder are so much like the normal behavior and emotions exhibited by children that they could be missed. Unfortunately it shows itself by hindering the child’s progress in school and relationship with friends and family. Whatever it is, the symptoms must be recognized and treated as soon as possible; so that the child needn’t suffer any more than is necessary.

[Kim Wilde]

I’ve heard of this. Bipolar disorder is supposed to be more prevalent in kids than in adults. Lots of kids with ADHD – attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity are more prone to suffer from bipolar disorder Studies show that when children and adolescents suffer from depression, there’s a very good chance it might become chronic or keep recurring – and that could very well set the stage for the bipolar disorder. The encouraging thing is that it is a treatable brain disorder – provided it is diagnosed right. These days doctors are able to do that far more successfully than a decade ago. I think its all the more confusing for families – diagnosis and treatment depends on the family seeking medical attention. So it’s important to watch out for symptoms and take them seriously enough at the right time so as to get help in time.

[Jeff]

Oh, it is quite easy to ignore mood swings in children because it is usually labeled as ‘natural’. It is probably because we see it all the time and children get over things far more quickly than we adults can. So how does one tell that changes in mood or energy could be a symptom of bipolar disorder? Children do get extremely sad or extremely happy. They are irritable if they don’t get something they want. They sulk. So it must be prolonged and persistent unusual behavior that needs to be identified. Deeply depressed children are anyway a major cause for concern because children ought to be happy most of the time. I know a kid who wants to do daring things like jump from heights or crossing a ditch that’s just a bit too wide. He also tends to talk back quite a bit – and gets into a rage at odd times…could he be suffering from symptoms of bipolar disorder?

[Marie]

Tough to say. There’s so much more to know about this kid before he can be labeled as having a serious problem. With kids, just a lifestyle change can sometimes make them absolutely ‘normal’. Also, it depends on whether he has a encouraging environment at home for healthy mental and physical growth. Bipolar disorder can start off even in little infants. They are the ones that are difficult to control or settle into normal sleeping patterns. These babies seem rather prone to tantrum and cling to their parents and never seem to take no for an answer. When they grow up, as kids, they cant seem to accept the fact that they cant fly when they believe they can – have strange food habits and seem to get obsessed with whatever they are involved in. I guess there is a systematic way in which a professionally qualified medico can figure out what exactly is the problem and how to treat it.

[Susan]

Yes you are right Marie – but the problem is that these kids showing symptoms have to be observed for a length of time – simply because they are absolutely fine between instances of depression. Adolescents seem psychotic and depressed – they may talk too much and have too many expansive ideas about themselves, and even hallucinate. They become too hyperactive and it can be tough to get through to them. On one hand they are over active, and when they experience depression, its just the opposite. They seem too sad and cry a lot – don’t seem to do well at school, find it tough to concentrate and seem irritable all the time. With this sort of thing, who wouldn’t be irritable? The thing is…between the hyperactivity and the depression; they seem like any other normal kid.

[David]

There must be a trigger that sets off these mood swings. Could be a traumatic incident that sets of the latent symptoms of depression and later bipolar disorder. For girls, especially, puberty is a risky period – they get all stressed and they might experience severe symptoms of manic depression. Once they start, they happen pretty often and if not treated on time, can get really worse, making a mess of the kids’ life. Sometimes, it can take several years before professional help is sought. Then what can be done? Growing up is not easy in today’s world. Not being treated in time can even lead to involvement with drugs and alcohol. I think every kid or teenager who seems to have anything to do with drugs or alcohol must be checked out to see if there is a mood disorder.

[Jeff]

There is certainly a connection. Most kids who have the problem of bipolar disorder and are not receiving treatment are the ones very likely to get into substance abuse – alcohol, drugs you name it. Many of them seem all right till they reach puberty – and then these signs flood in when they are the most defenseless. It seems only too easy to get addicted – and God knows how easy it is to lay your hands on the stuff. When their mood disorder seems to get better – that little lightheaded high that they experience with the use of drugs can put them into a false sense of security – only leading them deeper into the mire. Then there are two problems to tackle – the emotional and the substance abuse! Who said growing up is easy? Does genetics have anything to do with it?

[David]

Sure it has. Mental illnesses definitely have a genetic correlation. But as I read elsewhere in this thread, environment plays a big role. It can influence the individual to such an extent that the symptoms may not show at all – which is wonderful – or might just tip the scales and become a big problem. Genetically, if a parent has the bipolar disorder problem, the child has a very good chance of having it too – say 30%. And if both parents suffer from bipolar disorder – there are up to 75% chances of the child inheriting it! And by the way – for kids who show the symptoms of bipolar disorder early on in life, you’ll find that there are people in the family who suffered from drug or alcohol abuse – and they may not have been diagnosed at all. You might even find highly successful people in the family.

[Kim Wilde]

Okay – here’s my two bit – in connection with finding successful people in families with a history of bipolar disorder – Did you know that the following people had symptoms of this illness – Abraham Lincoln (yes), Churchill, Roosevelt, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Beethoven, Dickens, Newton – all people we admire and respect. And they were all very eminent world famous people. The same challenge exists today with diagnosing a kid’s behavior. And there are a whole lot of other emotional disorders that come along with bipolar disorder – and if bipolar disorder has been diagnosed and treated, the other problems will also probably go away. So there’s a good chance that one could be mistaken for the other…but treatment remains similar. If a child’s treated for depression, then maybe it also eases off the bipolar disorder part of the problem.

[Leo]

From all that has been said above, it looks like the most worrisome part is the diagnosis. And if years pass before a child’s problem is identified – gosh, that’s so terrible. Imagine just writing off a little strange behavior as ‘kids are like that’! And imagine if they don’t get the correct treatment – they could even get worse. Sometimes children showing unusual behavior are even sent off for residential treatment and it becomes a stigma for life! Some become antisocial – developing the feeling that no one understands them…and the wrong medication aggravates their condition. No wonder they turn to drugs, alcohol and think of suicide for support. I feel rather depressed from all of this.