A lot of teenagers experience stress and worries, they may feel unhappy from time to time but these effects sometimes get triggered and drastically affect a child’s health. However, decisive fears may be experienced at different times during growth. For example, a lot of kids get worried about staying away from their parents, even if they are cared for.
Though panics and fuss are popular among children, extreme levels of sadness persistently may lead to anxiety situations. Anxiety and depressing attitudes among children are sometimes also referred to as “internalizing disorders“.
These are also triggered due to sleep disorders and insomnia in children. If left untreated, insomnia can cause a lot of harm. Therefore, keeping a strict check on your child’s sleep requirements is important.
Anxiety
When a child is unable to overcome or cope up with all the fears and worries that interfere with school, home, siblings or with playmates, such a child may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
There are many different types of anxiety disorders children suffer through. They may be:
● Getting apprehensive while away from parents (separation anxiety).
● Extremely worried or having phobias about specific place or situation such as going to doctor, injections, dogs, cockroaches etc
● General anxiety about future events or bad things that happened in the past.
● Repeated attacks of sudden, unexpected, suspicions or fears along with symptoms like breathlessness, low pulse rate, increased heartbeat, sweating and dizzy behaviour.
Mostly, anxiety is associated with fears and worries among children but it may turn the child nasty, angry and irritated.
Other anxiety symptoms comprise disturbed sleep habits contributing to disrupted biological clock, recurrent headaches, stomach pain and muscle fatigue.
Symptoms can be missed if the child does not share his problems and may cause long term illness.
Depression
Feeling sad or hopeless behaviour is a part of every teenager’s life. However, some children experience persistent unhappiness and hopelessness. Such children can be diagnosed with depressive disorders.
Common behaviours of children with depression include :
● Hopelessness
● Restlessness
● Sadness or feeling worthless
● Transformed eating habits
● Changing sleep patterns
● Feeling irritable most of the times
● Being sluggish and tired most of the time
● Feeling guilty over little things
● Self-destructive attitude
● Unable to focus
Severe depression may lead the child to suicidal thoughts. A lot of researches and awareness programs are being done on the subject of “youth suicide prevention”. For youth ages, 10-24 suicide has become the most common cause of death. It is important to note that sometimes due to a lack of understanding and communication between parents and kids, a lot of children may never think of discussing these matters with adults which makes the child more demotivated, often making trouble for others, causing parents to incorrectly label the child “trouble maker” rather than treating child’s depression.
Treatment
The most important thing is to find out the root cause of the patient’s condition. These causes may include some health problems such as insomnia. If you observe sleeplessness in your child it is advised to give him melatonin supplements. Brands like Gummies Garden, Zarbee’s, and Natrol Kids are making melatonin gummies for kids that are effective to cure insomnia. These supplements help maintain natural circadian rhythm and children start following proper sleep patterns.
Apart from health supplements, the foremost treatment is a talk with a mental health specialist or maybe a psychiatrist (in severe conditions).
It’s worthwhile to mention here that a child may also become depressed due to trauma caused as a result of death of a close family member. In this case, the child should never be left alone to self-heal, rather a careful evaluation should be made to get the best diagnosis and treatment.
Medicinal treatment is more common but less safe than therapy consulted with a mental health specialist. Doctors believe that words can heal more than pills for a depressed patient. Mental health provider can provide a therapy plan that is effective for both the child and the family. For young children, involving parents is very important. In this regard, “behavioural therapy” alone or along with “family therapy” is the most common and effective cure for teenagers.
“Cognitive behaviour therapy” is adopted to treat anxiety and depression in children of older ages. It works on the principle of changing all negative thoughts of child into positive ones that help change their perspective about things.
Staying Healthy
Caring about health is important for all age individuals but specifically in the growing age.Surprisingly, children with depression experienced a drastic effect in symptoms after switching to a healthy lifestyle.
Below are mentioned some healthy habits that may help:
● More fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, peas, nuts and lentils.
● Avoiding junk foods
● Engaging in physical activities for at least an hour daily
● Getting adequate sleep on time
● Practising focus and relaxation techniques
Prevention
It is not yet known completely why youngsters develop anxiety and depression at an early age. Biology and temperament are considered to play an important role, but it is more likely for a child to get stressed after a specific trauma or painful incident. Other common reasons are maltreatment, rejection, bullying or parents having anxiety or depression.
Above mentioned factors increase the risk of depression and parents can prevent these risks for the better and healthier life of the child.
