Mood
- Sadness, loneliness, unhappiness, helplessness, hopelessness, and pessimism.
- Mood swings, moodiness, irritable, easily annoyed, cries easily, hypersensitive, negative, difficult to please, worrying and fearful.
- Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure.
- Severely critical of themselves.
- Feelings of being worthless, useless, dumb, stupid, ugly and guilty.
- Self blame for things that are not their fault.
- Beliefs of persecution, death wishes, suicidal thoughts and/or attempts.
- Talk of, or efforts to, run away from home.
- Successes are minimized while failures are maximized.
- Difficult to get along with, difficult to reason with, quarrelsome, disrespectful of authority, Belligerent, hostile, agitated, excessive fighting or sudden intense anger.
- Difficulty with family relationships.Suicidal thoughts, feelings, or plans.
Sleep Disturbance
Change in sleeping patterns such as:
- Trouble falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, early morning awakening or sleeping too much.
Change in School Performance
- Significant drop in grades.
- Frequent complaints from teachers: daydreaming, poor concentration, indecisiveness, poor memory.
- Loss of usual effort in school subjects.Loss of usual interest in nonacademic school activities.Incomplete classroom assignments.
- Much incomplete homework.
- Finds homework difficult.
- Inconsistency between home and school, for example seems fine at school but breaks down at home.
- Diminished/excessive socialization.
- Less group participation.
- Less friendly, less outgoing, socially withdrawing.Loss of interest in activities formerly enjoyed.
- Change in attitude toward School
- Does not want or refuses, to attend school.
Physical Complaints
- Non-migraine headaches, abdominal pain, muscle aches or pains.
- Frequent physical complaints with no medical explanation.
- Sometimes the family doctor or paediatrician may need to rule out physical illness or medical condition.
- Loss of usual personal interests or pursuits other than school.
- Decreased energy, mental and/or physical fatigue.
- Increase or decrease in appetite.
- Unusual loss or gain of weight.
Please Remember:
- Every child is different and reacts in their own way.
- Many children will only show a few of these symptoms.
- If you are concerned about your child, contact your family doctor or paediatrician.
Reviewed by M. Kodsi, M.D., Child and Family Psychiatrist.