Signs of Depression in Children and Adolescents

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.