Children are always growing, and in this path of growth they might face various problems and difficulties which might lead them towards depression. Especially in their teenage they are bound to go to depression feeling helpless, hopeless, or may have inferiority complex or sadness etc. Parents need to keep a close eye on their children to know if there is a problem. Prolonged sadness, loneliness, feeling unsecured are signs of depression and should be taken care of as soon as possible.
How to understand if your child is dealing with depression
As children grow, they pass through many stages from childhood to adolescence. During this transformation time they might have mood swings, aggression, or emotional unbalance. Parents need to see whether the change of behaviour is a part of growth or something else. Sometimes it becomes difficult to understand if our kids are going through depression. Keep a watch on the following behaviour which will help to distinguish between normal behaviour or depression.
Sad for a long time
Feeling hopelessness all the time
Feeling of loneliness
Think one’s own self to be worthless
Inferiority complex
Low self-esteem
Avoiding social gatherings
Keeping away from fun activities
If any of the above behaviour is in your child, and they have been facing it for a long time now, then you must:
Consult a doctor
Doctors are a big help in understanding the form of depression the child is going through. They can suggest some medication or some therapy which will help the child to come out of depression.
Talk to the paediatrician who checks your kid as they can understand or might suggest somebody who could help.
Support them
Supporting our child emotionally would be a big help. The best way to understand your child is to talk to them and listen to them. Have an open conversation with them and try to support them to build up their confidence. Support them to understand their worries and problems. Be their friends, not somebody who is always dominating.
Build them up mentally
Make them understand that problems are a part of life, it comes and goes. Give them self-help books to read or book an appointment with a happiness or life couch who would talk to your child and let them understand how good it is to be positive rather than being negative. Invite their best friends to home so that they can talk and enjoy time together. Organise some family outings which would help them to tackle the problem with the change in the environment.
Health consciousness
Yoga and meditation help us to get connected with our body and mind and thus let us acquire peace within our soul. Ask them to follow a healthy lifestyle like waking up early in the morning, doing yoga, meditation or exercise, or maybe they can play outdoor games. Also, let them understand the importance of eating healthy, which helps to sooth our mind and body.
Being busy
Try to get them busy in activities which they like the most to do. They should not get time to think other negative things apart from being indulged with their activities. Let those interests become their passion and occupation. Get some couch who can help them transform their interests into business and at the same time help them to think positively. If they were busy, they would be happy as negative thoughts won’t come to their mind.
The best thing we can gift our kids is to be mentally strong and always happy.
