Childhood Depression

Childhood depression doesn’t seem like it should exist, because the time of being a child should be filled with thoughts of family, school and friends and not worry and anxiety. Yet it’s an increasing problem in our society for many reasons. First, children are subject to the same problems as adults simply because they’re human. They suffer stress, have family problems and may be born with a predisposition towards depression due to genetics. Second, depression is now diagnosed correctly more often than it was in the past.

Childhood depression makes itself known in a number of ways. The child may experience frequent high and low emotional states. Children who are depressed often don’t want to leave the house and play with friends. Another symptom is a change in school performance. If he or she once did well in school and then loses interest, it can be a sign the child is depressed. Another frequent symptom is a lack of interest in normal activities. Early intervention is important in order to prevent progression of the disorder.

Childhood depression can be treated. Parents who think their child may be depressed can take certain steps to re-engage the child in a number of ways. The first thing you should do is try to get your child interested in something. It can be a social or athletic activity or even certain toys. Another important step to take is getting your child to talk to you regularly, but be careful of responding with only criticism. Just like in adult depression, childhood depression means the child is having problems with self esteem. Your goal is to build up feelings of self-worth so coping mechanisms are stronger.

One of the important steps you can take for treating childhood depression is working with your child to develop appropriate responses to situations. Life is always going to have those moments when you have to overcome perceived failure or difficult situations. If you child doesn’t know how to respond and only gets frustrated, then childhood depression can take hold.

When you decide your child is experiencing depression, you need to try and uncover any particular causes. For example, if he or she is having trouble at school then perhaps there’s a problem between your child and another child. Or if your child suddenly withdraws for no apparent reason, then you might need to have your child work with a therapist to investigate possible emotional or sexual abuse (there will be other signs too obviously). Another common cause of childhood depression is an unsuspected learning disability.

Many children are not good at communicating what they’re thinking or feeling. That means you have to make an extra effort to “interpret” the situation. There are many treatment options if the self-help treatments don’t work. These treatments are similar to the ones used to treat adult depression.

What is Depression?

Treatments for Depression

There are many treatments for depression and usually more than one is used at a time. The most common treatments today include the following.

• Cognitive therapy
• Group therapy
• Medication
• Behavioral therapy
• Interpersonal therapy

Most of the treatments for depression include keeping a journal as a first step and even an activity log when the depression is severe enough to prevent you from completing critical activities. A log can be an important tool for both you and/or your therapist in order to identify the triggers of depression. It can also be a good way to get your life back on track.

One of the benefits of using journals and logs in the treatments for depression is that it forces you to undertake an activity to improve your life. This can be very important when depression has interfered with your ability to think or function normally. For example, if you keep a log of what you’re feeling and of your thoughts, it becomes easier to identify the negative thinking that spirals out of control. A journal can reveal things such as feelings of failure or anxiety. With the identification of the thoughts, a therapist can then help you seek the cause of the lack of self esteem.

An activity log is a useful log during any of the treatments for depression for keeping track of what must be done in your life to keep it on track. People with depression often decide they don’t care anymore about any one or any thing. Unfortunately, this can have dire consequences if you don’t pay bills or deposit money in your bank account. Some people with depression don’t just neglect themselves either. They neglect important tasks such as picking up the kids at school. The can even decide eating is too much trouble. That’s why some people with depression can have sudden and severe weight loss.

When people get depressed, the mind focuses on dark and deep thoughts that are usually self-critical. If you tell yourself you’re unable to do anything right, the next logical thought is: why try? That is how depression works. It gets deeper and deeper if left untreated. Except for medication, the treatments for depression assist people with changing their thought patterns so they see themselves as capable and positive.

It’s hard for someone who’s never had depression to understand how deep the mental hole can get. When you keep a journal and activity log, you can learn to set simple goals that are easy to meet. The slow decline into the black hole is reversed so you can begin the upward climb to the light. It’s done one step at a time. There’s no instant cure for depression. Even medication takes time to work.

Teen Depression

Sometimes teenagers can be hard to interpret because they have many normal ups and downs as they grow into adults. But teen depression is a growing problem as evidenced by the increasing number of teen suicides. It’s also not unusual to hear parents of teenagers involved in violent acts in the schools say the teens had been depressed. But it’s sometimes hard to differentiate between the normal emotional variability due to hormonal changes and true depression.

As parents of teenagers, it’s important to watch for changes in behavior that don’t make sense and seem to worsen as times go by. For example, teenagers that have always enjoyed being with friends and then suddenly stop socializing may be experiencing depression. Losing interest in activities is one of the major signs of depression. Teen depression may reveal itself in other ways too.

• Loss of interest in sports activities when sports have always been important

• Sudden drops in grades at school

• Change in eating habits such as loss of appetite or ravenous gorging

• Comments indicating low self-esteem

• Sudden fluctuations in moods

It would be nice if an adolescent would just tell a parent exactly what he or she is thinking and feeling, but that often doesn’t happen. Instead the parents have to be acutely aware of unusual behavior that indicates something’s not right in their child’s life.

There are ongoing medical studies trying to find physical reasons for teen depression. There has been a correlation found between obesity and depression. That only makes sense when you consider the symptoms of depression in children. For example, an obese child can have feelings of low self worth due to peer taunting. Teenagers who are depressed may eat a lot of “comfort food” seeking solace for their feelings of isolation. Teenagers can also be experiencing problems at school and not be telling the parents at home. As a parent you think things are going well only to discover there’s been an ongoing problem between students or student and teacher.

Adolescents can be very sensitive human beings. The teenage years are formative years, and when problems in socialization occur, it can be very demoralizing. In addition, sudden mood swings can also indicate there’s another problem in the teen’s life. If a teenager is being abused physically or sexually, teen depression can be the response.

Identifying teen depression can be difficult, but never impossible. When you suspect your child may be experiencing teen depression, you should try to talk to the child first. If the adolescent won’t talk to you then professional therapy may be in order. It’s important that some kind of treatment be instituted, because the lack of self esteem can be devastating. Depression deepens and doesn’t just disappear once he or she reaches adulthood. Your teenager can become a depressed adult next.

Of course, one of the best treatments you can give your child is always lots of love!

Depression Medications

Depression medications are serious business, because they’re strong drugs that impact your brain functioning. They’re not to be taken lightly and some are even addictive. There’s a reason why all antidepressant medications are strictly controlled. They need to be taken only under the supervision of a doctor.

Not everyone wants to turn to depression medications for relief though. Each person must work with his or her doctor to determine which course of treatment is right for your situation. Some people try all other forms of treatment first while others begin a combined treatment of medication and another therapy. These other therapies can include group therapy, cognitive and behavioral therapy, and even self-help therapy to name a few.

So how do you know when taking one of the depression medications is the right choice? The first things most doctors will consider is how long your depression has been occurring and which therapies you have tried. Other factors in the decision to use depression medications include religious values, other medications currently being taken, pregnancy and propensity for drug dependency. As you can see, it may be a very complex decision to use depression medications.

In our society, we too frequently see drugs as a quick fix for everything that ails us. But even if you and your doctor decide to try drugs, they won’t work instantly. There are no quick fixes for depression. You will probably have to take the medications for many months and it will take weeks before you notice a change in your depression disorder. In the meantime, you want to continue any other therapies currently being used to treat your depression.

One of the main considerations for deciding to use depression medications is the severity of the disorder. If you have bipolar condition or are depressed at least 2 hours every day, you have severe depression. If your depression is preventing you from working and creating other serious problems in your life, medication might be used in the beginning. The nice thing about medication is it can be stopped down the road. You can take it for the months you need it and then as other therapies work, or your depression abates, you can withdraw from the drugs.

Treatments other than depression medications offer a change in thinking and lifestyle for the long term. Using medications is a short term solution except in the most severe cases. When you learn positive self-talk or positive thinking, they’re techniques you can use anywhere.

When you use depression medications, it might be necessary to try more than one in order to get the best drug combination. You also must be aware that most of them have side effects, but these side effects are different for everyone. That’s another reason why you need constant doctor supervision.

Depression Test

Sometimes it can be difficult distinguishing between the normal emotional ups and downs that people experience as part of life and depression. But when you begin to suspect that you should feel much better than you do about yourself and your world, taking a depression test can provide important direction.

Depression does not have one form. It can take many different forms in terms of symptoms, and no two people are alike. But there are certain symptoms that frequently occur and can serve as measures of your emotional status. If nothing else, taking a depression test can help you decide if you need to see a doctor. Another benefit of utilizing a depression test as a barometer of your emotional state is that if you are experiencing depression, it may be hard for you to define your symptoms.

The depression test is merely a checklist of symptoms you identify as being applicable to your situation. It can be amazing how many people are actually unaware they have a mild case of depression or don’t realize how much their life has changed due to depression. There are so many manifestations of depression that it’s impossible to list them all.

The depression test can be used by the person who suspects they are experiencing depression or by family or friends who aren’t sure how to recognize depression in someone they love. It’s important to identify depression as early as possible, because depression will get worse. The general rule of thumb is to consider if you have experienced several of any of the following symptoms for longer than 2 weeks.

• Thoughts your life is spiraling out of control
• Believing your life is unimportant
• Convinced no one would miss you if you were to die
• Can’t make any decisions – even small ones
• Don’t anticipate anything at all as being enjoyable
• Feeling ashamed all the time
• Experiencing frequent and unexplained crying
• Can’t enjoy being with friends or attending events
• Stopped exercising
• Giving up things once enjoyed
• Avoiding people whenever possible
• Feeling alone all the time
• Doesn’t enjoy being with family anymore
• Feeling like no one understands you
• Losing appetite
• Unable to sleep or sleeping too much
• Having no energy

The depression test can include many more symptoms, but this gives you a good idea of the kinds of things you would take into consideration. As you can tell from the list, depression affects a lot more than just your emotions. It can affect your body and your relationships too.

Once you take the depression test, the next step is to begin tracking the mood changes. By creating a mood diary, there’s now something very tangible and quite convincing to show a doctor or therapist. It also provides you a clear picture of what’s happening and that can be very therapeutic in itself.

Depression Medication

Sometime depression medication is deemed necessary by the doctor, especially in the case of severe depression. But medication is not an instant cure by any means. It takes weeks before the medication benefits are felt and researchers aren’t sure why it takes so long. But there are certain depression symptoms that warrant medication.

• Having suicidal thoughts or preoccupation with death
• Experiencing psychotic delusions
• Have severe depression that has overwhelmed your life
• Have recurring depression that hasn’t responded to other treatments

Sometimes depression medication is prescribed when other forms of treatment have already been tried and are not proving to be effective. Depression can be elusive because so many different things can contribute to its existence. Medication can be a last resort form of treatment in these situations.

Most doctors will not prescribe depression medication until psychotherapy has been tried if at all possible. Medication is seldom the first choice of treatment unless there are no alternatives available to the patient or the patient is considered to be a threat to him or herself.

There are several different kinds of depression medicine commonly prescribed today. Basically, depression is considered to be the result of the brain not producing the right amount of chemicals needed for proper functioning. The result is increased feelings of stress and anxiety among other effects. Medication attempts to restore balance in the brain so neurotransmitters operate properly.

The most common depression medication prescribed will be one of the following.

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)
• Tricyclics
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAO inhibitor)

• Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor Medications
• Benzodiazepine Tranquilizers (BZ)

These are a lot of fancy names for antidepressants. There are even other medications that can be tried if any of these depression medication choices are not acceptable. Varying side effects will have to be taken into consideration when deciding whether to continue a particular medication. For example, some of them are addictive. That means when it’s time to get off the drug, you must slowly withdraw.

There is another class of drugs that is not considered an antidepressant. Instead, the drugs are actually mood stabilizers. They don’t affect the same chemicals in the brain like the antidepressant drugs. Instead of impacting serotonin or dopamine, they have an impact on glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid.

Not everyone chooses to take medication, but instead try to find alternate treatments. Also, there are times when taking medications is not appropriate. For example, when you’re pregnant or taking a drug for another medical problem you might not want to use antidepressants. Some drugs cannot be safely mixed together. In addition, sometimes the side effects of the depression medication are so uncomfortable that people choose to quit taking the drug.

Depression medication is an effective form of treatment under certain conditions. You must work with your doctor to determine which medication will best suit your situation.

Chronic Depression

Chronic depression is a disorder that lasts for a long time such as 2 years or more. It can refer to ongoing depression that never subsides or to depression that comes and goes. Chronic depression is not necessarily severe depression. It’s just depression that continues over time.

Chronic depression is often treated with medication after other therapies have failed. A therapist will try behavioral, cognitive and group therapy before medication will be described. Using prescription drugs is usually the last treatment choice. But when you don’t respond to these other treatments, then the doctor may decide to prescribe an anti-depressant. It’s important to understand though that the other treatments will continue in conjunction with taking medication. Using prescription drugs is not normally a permanent solution except in the most severe cases.

There is a type of depression called dysthymia which is usually chronic depression. It’s chronic but seldom severe. The symptoms of dysthymia include the following.

• Inability to concentrate
• Constant guilty feelings about your life
• Suicidal thoughts
• Low self esteem

This chronic depression is long lasting and ongoing. You might experience these symptoms every day for years. There are essentially no extreme ups and downs like you find in other forms of depression. It’s more a lack of joy in your life and feelings of inadequacy that hold you back. As you can see from the list of symptoms, dysthymia is not as debilitating as other more severe forms of depression. It seems to stay more thought based.

Dysthymia can occur in at any time of life. This chronic depression has no particular age association which means children, teens or adults can develop this disorder. Because the person doesn’t exhibit overt physical or emotional problems, it can be difficult to diagnose – especially in children or teens.

Dysthymia needs to be treated as soon as possible, because it is a chronic depression. It can lead to more severe depression as times goes by. This is true for all forms of depression as a matter of fact. Depression does not heal on its own. If you are chronically depressed, you need to seek treatment because the depression will continue without intervention.

Chronic depression is depression that lasts for more than 2 years. Most people who experience depression are able to seek treatment and end the downward spiral of depression. But for some reason that medical researchers still can’t explain, there are people who don’t respond to treatment. If you are one of them, there’s still many alternatives you therapist or doctor can pursue in order to get you the help you need.

Identifying disorders such as dysthymia can be difficult. If you go through life never feeling joy or pleasure, then you should take a depression test. Then you should consider how long you have been experiencing your symptoms. Identifying chronic depression is the first step in the cure for the disorder.

Causes of Depression

There are many theories about the causes of depression, but none of them are definitive. In other words, even medical researchers to this day don’t know for sure what causes depression. They continue to study the disorder though and great progress has been made towards narrowing the search. In the final analysis, a person gets depressed because of many causes and not one.

Current medical theories cover the gamut of possibilities. Some doctors believe depression might be an inherited trait. In other words, genetics plays a role in whether or not experience depression. It’s not uncommon to hear people say they have several members of a family who have been diagnosed with depression over the years. There’s not a “depression gene”, but we all inherit certain personality traits. In addition, some genes apparently affect the production of serotonin in the brain and are suspect as a cause of depression.

The possible causes of depression also include possible childhood experiences. For example, if you were physically, emotionally or sexually abused then you might have very well developed your dark thoughts at a young age. It would be easy to see why you view the world as hopeless. Another theory says that parents who are excessively strict and inhibiting raise children who are unable to socialize normally. This can lead to social dysfunction and withdrawal.

Still another one of the causes of depression is related to biology. The body is designed to respond to perceived threats quickly. The brain produces chemicals that enable the body to either take a stand or flee (fight-or-flight response). When these chemicals are not produced at the right time and in the right quantity, the result can lead to a chemical imbalance and depression. But related to this biological cause is the ability of the body and mind to handle stress. If you have suppressed feelings related to stress in your life, depression can ensue.

There are also many medical conditions reported to be causes of depression. Hyperthyroidism can lead to panic attacks and anxiety and affect your ability to cope with life. A sudden tragedy can also cause depression. If someone you love dies, your spouse leaves you or you are fired, depression can develop. Your self-talk and coping skills and ability to handle stress all impact how you respond to grief and tragedy.

Another one of the causes of depression is the use of drugs. Drugs like cocaine and amphetamines over stimulate the brain and lead to anxiety and depression. Some drugs are known to cause brain damage also and the brain is left in a perpetual state of imbalance.

Human beings are complicated and so are the causes of depression. Finding the cause in your life will take a determination to seek the source of your depression through one or more of the effective treatments.

Anxiety Depression: Learn How to be worry free

From a religious stand-point, Jesus once asked his 12 disciples: “Which of you by worrying can add a single strand of hair to your head?” Now, you may be of a religious background or possibly not, just, think about that statement and you would see why worrying, a main symptom of anxiety depression is quite unnecessary.

Reduced to its simplest form, what is worry? It is merely an unhealthy and destructive mental habit that- believe it or not folks-you weren’t born with but simply acquired out of practice. The good news is, with aggressive actions, as with any habit and acquired attitude; we can be worry free and eliminate it from our lives successfully.

In the words of Dr. Smiley Blanton, a noted Psychiatrist: “Anxiety depression is the great modern plague.” Other psychologists go on to say ‘worry’ a noted symptom of any form of depression, is the most subtle and destructive of all human diseases. While we worry excessively, we disintegrate our inner workings as humans and really put a lot of things out of order. Needless to say avoiding worry as a step of treating depression and anxiety will be the first step for our own benefit.

Anxiety Depression: Steps to take to be Worry Free:

The following steps should be used to deal with anxiety depression and its main symptom, worry. When used wisely and effectively, you’ll inevitably be successful at these natural depression help techniques.

1. Practice Mind-drainage: Empty your mind of pessimistic and negative thoughts, especially prior to going to and after waking up from sleep. This involves some degree of imagination friends. (the same imagination-mind you-that you are actually using to aggravate your present situation (didn’t realize that huh?). This mind-draining strategy cannot be overemphasized as I will let you know, if you fear something for a long period of time, it may actually come to pass. “For the thing which I feared has come upon me…” (Job 3:25)

2. Fill up the mind with powerful thoughts of faith and success to fill up the vacuum now left in the mind. You become a worrier by practicing it, you can be worry-free by practicing the opposite.

3. State positive things about those things you previously spoke negatively of.

4. Never take part in a worry conversation. Induce your conversation with faith and worry-free statements.

5. Make friends with optimistic people, practice prayer and meditation.

6. Exercise and eat right. You will be making yourself look and feel better and consequently stronger through the process for overcoming depression, anxiety and becoming worry free.

No one is saying things will be automatically changed overnight. No, it takes work. However with direct and equally aggressive actions as the destructive worry habits one may be indulging in, anxiety depression can be overcome and you too can be worry free if you believe in your mind you can.

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