New ADAA Blog Post: Childhood Depression

"Many well-intentioned adults still believe that children ‘can’t get depressed. They are so young- what do they have to be depressed about? When we were that age, we were just happy’. Alongside misunderstanding is stigma and the idea that mental illness is a taboo subject." adaa.org/learn-from-us/from...

[deborah27]

i would say that it is reality that children do become depressed. the triggers may be different though and possibly connected to the input behaviours of adults in their lives. an alcoholic parent, for example, or being bullied at school with the feeling that there is nowhere to turn to for help. i would suggest too that unresolved issues from childhood will impact on individuals in their adult life. i think that anxiety and depression are flipsides of the same coin and are about negative and catastrophic thoughts that can be challenged at any age. it should be part of the curriculum to look at how we problem solve, how we deal with negative thoughts, how to be assertive and to introduce the skills we all need to have to be heard and how to ask for support. asking for support during a difficult time should be considered a strength and teach children that we all have the ability to communicate our needs in an effective and positive way.