How To Handle Children Depression (Part 2) -By Edwin Alivionote

What will really make a child depressed? One will ask out of inquisition over what they should possibly be depressed about. Fear, anxiety and worry are also part of children’s feelings caused by the combined situations within their environment. The parental care, school socialization, societal values and the environmental exposures are all the bulk of pressure earners for children. By about the age of 5years, children can respond to quite a lot of emotions such as envy, anxiety and shame. The inability to meet up the demands of their parents, peers, relatives and even expectations as portrayed by the media are all cumulative on the child’s mood.

One source of children depression arises from vented anger, courtesy of whatever course, has serious impact on children’s emotions. The pouring of outburst on the young infant as a result of economic pressure or aggression occasioned by unfavourably circumstances leave the dent of depression on the young lad.

A second source is the consistent denial of chances to communicate their minds on matters impressing on their passions. The continuous denial of these inquisitive kids from echoing their minds, amount to building a bank of unanswered questions in them. The level of doubts increases in them and uncertainty of their worries leaves them less happy and more inclined to being isolated.

Failure is another source of depression in children. A noteworthy revelation for Nigerian parents, the child who had been made to face the shame of failure alone, builds upon self the image of being worthless. Failure in children kills the will power and the drive to pursue fulfillment oriented tasks. Some children confront their failure with temper tantrums characterised by intense crying, stamping, uncontrolled jumping and destruction of personal belongings.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is more common in girls than boys and results from a complex interaction of social, psychological and biological factors. The depression which may be inclined by any of genetics, stress and social mishaps has the tendencies to cause, chronic diseases, personality disorder and death wishes.

As a First Aid to children under this condition, affection and attention are very key elements to reversing depression, especially at its early stage. The attitude in children which makes their mood short-span is a positive stimulus to unbundling depression of their minds. Affection and attention from the care-givers and guardians means a lot to a child’s happiness. The warmth from these close persons in the child’s life will help him/her heal relatively fast.

To be sure of a complete restoration of the child to emotional balance, support could be sought from a counsellor. The child should be engaged in a therapy to un-cover the root cause of the depression and then gradually, plausible clarification of mind bugging questions should be made to wean the child’s mind completely of the depressive issue. Then, a period of observation is fixed to gather status report on the child’s re-integration into his/her normal functional personality.

Although, some cases of depression may come mild like weather and fade off within short periods. The frequency of re-occurrence and the length of time it last are the two factors that call for assistance for the child. The parents in the family are to play the role of counsellors for their kids as First Aiders, to psycho-social issues encountered by these children. The counsellor becomes necessary after their effort leaves the situation unchecked.

Always, we must build our arms around these children to make sure we feel their pulse and know their mind status; this is an unassembled duty of every child guardian.