Many adults think that depression as well as anxiety do not occur in young children. But studies have shown that around 15 per cent of pre-school children suffer from anxiety and depression and 8 out of those 10 children do not get the sufficient treatment for it. Parents should be aware that with treatment, they can help their children overcome depression. Figure out the signs The very first step to start helping your child is to find out what the signs are. Pre-school children won’t actually come up to you and tell you that they are going through depression. What you can do is, keep an eye out for various things. For example, if your child starts crying a lot even without a valid reason, if he or she refuses to go out and play with other children, then something is wrong. There are other symptoms which should set off a reg flag as well. These include your children being too clingy and complaining of physical illnesses which are non existent. Sometimes you will even find that your child is refusing to go to pre school and is crying whenever he meets a new friend. All these are basic symptoms for anxiety as well as depression.
Ask the ones who know If you find that your child does show certain symptoms then you can take some professional help. This doesn’t necessarily mean a psychologist. You could even ask your usual pediatrician about changes in your child’s diet or in his physical health or sleep pattern. Anxiety as well as depression can be caused due to all these reasons. If nothing else works, you can finally go to a child psychologist but make sure you get a well referred one. After all, you need to make sure that the best person is there to talk to your child and help him get through it.
Play therapy A lot of children are too young to tell you their thoughts properly. This is where play therapy comes in. This type of therapy helps children to express themselves. It also gives them means by which they can learn various strategies to cope up with the anxiety and depression. If you want to make your child go through this play therapy, you need to ask your child psychologist about it. Make sure that you ask the psychologist all the questions that you want, regarding this kind of therapy. It is completely safe for a child and helps him to have more fun, if he is suffering through depression.
Give all the time you have to your child During the times of anxiety and depression, your child needs all the help he can get. So, you need to make sure that you spend every free minute that you have with him. Talk to him, play games, help him learn new things. There are a wide range of things you can do with a young child as all the child needs is a little love and care, to get out of this depression and to overcome his anxieties. Hugs are a must for the child.. Make sure that you cuddle your child and hug him as much as you can to keep reassuring him that you love him. If they know they are loved then they have nothing to fear or to be sad about.
Keep your ears open Make sure that you listen to your child. If he really needs to talk to you, you must be there. You should also listen to what he has to tell you and if he asks for an advice or tells you something is wrong, you need to solve it in the simplest way possible. If you use long sentences and big explanations, your child will not understand. So, you need to be very short and simple. If possible you can illustrate with the help of a story. Children love stories and at this age they understand better when you explain it to them using a story. If you can put as much time as you can in taking care of your child and you go through the steps listed above properly, your child will get through the depression and anxiety in no time.
