Depression in children
Childhood depression is not always recognized as a serious problem. Too often adults think that depression is an 'adult' condition. The more aware adults are that this condition can exist in children, the better the chances of help being provided for these young people.

Children are supposed to be well-taken care of by adults. They are supposed to have their basic needs met. These include the need for food, warmth, physical comfort, adequate clothing and a healthy environment. In addition to these basic, mostly physical needs, they also have a right to have their emotional needs, such as comfort, closeness to other human beings and love, met. With all these needs provided for them children should have no reason to be concerned, anxious or worried. However that is not necessarily so. These needs are not always met one hundred per cent for each child. So that there is some concern, anxiety and worry in children. And this can in fact lead to children feeling depressed.

Depression is not just feeling sad for a while, or being "down-in-the-dumps" for a few days. Depression is long lasting. It usually persists for more than a month at a time and is life-threatening. It has been easy to miss the signs of depression in children because it is usually associated with other behaviors such as aggressiveness, irritability, delinquency, or hyperactivity. These behaviors can be symptomatic of or associated with several other disorders in children including learning disabilities, emotional disorders, alcohol and substance abuse, and therefore it is easy to misdiagnose a child suffering from depression. In addition, particularly in older children, signs of depression could get covered up or confused with the emotional turmoil that is thought to be characteristic of adolescence. Therefore moodiness or withdrawal in an adolescent could be dismissed as merely being a result of hormonal changes at that time.

What to look for?
Persistent sad mood. This can be observed in young people by signs such as wearing black clothes, writing sad stories or poetry, listening to music with morbid themes and words, frequently expressing feelings of worthlessness.

Decreasing interest in activities that once were important or enjoyable. This is accompanied by withdrawal especially from friends- not wanting to hang-out or play with friends any more, complaining of being bored all the time.

Change of sleep patterns. There may be difficulty sleeping-

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