Is Your Child Depressed?
If Your Child Is Tired,
Irritable, Or Angry, The Answer May Be “Yes”
Adapted from the book of this title by Joel Herskowitz, M.D., published by Pharo Books, NY.
NORMAL DEPRESSION
Depression is a normal part of life. It has been called
a human being’s response to loss, something everyone experiences from time to
time. This response includes changes in emotional state and behavior Sometimes the word is used simply to mean
sadness. A child grieving for the death of his beloved dog is sad--not
depressed--unless the sadness is extreme or prolonged. It would be extreme if,
for example, associated with thoughts of suicide, prolonged if it interferes
with his activities for weeks or months, not just a few days.
Thus, when sadness or other emotion interferes
significantly with one or more areas of daily life, you have a disorder.
SPHERES OF ACTIVITY
Think of the child or adolescent functioning in
several spheres of activity. These are
(1) personal-social, (2) academic, (3) athletic, and (4) occupational.
The boy whose depression makes him withdrawn and
irritable, a “drag” for his friends to be with, is not making it in the
personal-social sphere. The girl who got
A’s and B’s first semester but C’s and D’s second semester because of her mood
disturbance is impaired in the academic sphere.
The star athlete who loses interest in her favorite sport because of
depression is compromised in the athletic sphere. The boy whose sloppiness makes him late for
work is experiencing difficulties in the occupational sphere.
Use the checklist in Table 1 to get a sense of the
degree to which your child is participating in, or withdrawing from, different
kinds of activities.
Table 1
ACTIVITY CHECKLIST
Has your son or daughter lost interest or pleasure in
his or her usual activities over the past several weeks? Check those that
apply.
Personal-Social
o Not at All o Just a Little o Pretty Much o Very Much
School
o Not at All o Just a Little o Pretty Much o Very Much
Sports
o Not at All o Just a Little o Pretty Much o Very Much
Job
o Not at All o Just a Little o Pretty Much o Very Much
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MOODS
Positive moods
are described by such words as happy, elated, friendly, cheerful, satisfied,
good-tempered, agreeable. Negative moods can be described as sad, angry,
irritable, miserable, bad-tempered, spiteful, argumentative, resentful,
hopeless, terrified, grouchy, ornery, annoyed, tense.
Use Table 2 to select the mood or moods that
best describe your child.
DEPRESSION WITHOUT SADNESS
A useful general term for these states of negative
mood is dysphoria. A child or adolescent might simply call it “feeling bad.” When it comes to childhood depression, you
don’t have to have sadness or tears. You do generally have to have some form of
dysphoria that lasts for two weeks or more.