Anxiety and Depression in Young Children
“Is YOUR preschooler on antidepressants?”Anxiety and Depression in young children is on the rise. More and more children every day are being diagnosed with these stress-related injuries.The statistics are sobering. Somewhere between 1 in every 5 to 1 in every 10 children in America suffer from depression. Those numbers are roughly the same for anxiety disorder, and are exceeded by the numbers for ADHD. The fastest growing market for antidepressant medications is children in preschool. Preschool! Why? For a very simple reason: more and more parents are suffering from stress-related injuries. There is a direct correlation between anxiety and depression in parents and anxiety and depression in young children. This really shouldn’t come as any surprise. As children grow and begin to develop psychologically as individuals, they instinctually and subconsciously pattern themselves on their behaviour of their parents, or in the absence of parents, the adults with whom they have the closest relationship. If their parents are stressed to the hilt and suffering from the stress-induced conditions of anxiety, depression, or anger disorder, the children will very often adopt these dysfunctional patterns of behaviour. It’s true that not every instance of childhood anxiety or depression is a direct result of their parents’ issues with stress. But more often than not, “where there’s smoke there’s fire.” Saying this is not going to win me any popularity contests, but I call them like I see them. Many parents confronted with anxiety and depression in young children aren’t willing to take a cold hard look at their own lifestyle and relationship with stress. Hence the popularity of antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs for children who aren’t even old enough to attend school! Sometimes parents aren’t even aware that their child is suffering from a stress-related condition. Anxiety and depression in young children can be more difficult to recognize because children often do not express themselves in the same way as adults … “Stress” is a relatively complicated and abstract term to children, who think more concretely. They are not likely to complain of “nervousness” or “anxiety”, but instead might claim to have a headache or stomach ache. Other common indicators of anxiety and depression in young children include: • nightmares Obviously everything listed above as a potential symptom of stress is experienced by a child at one time or another. Every child experiences nightmares, or wets the bed a few times in their career. What you as a parent are really looking for is persistent symptoms, above and beyond the usual, which indicates a more fundamental stress-related issue. Stress seems to have a particularly strong effect on a child’s immune system. Chronic ear infections, or respiratory/sinus infections are often a strong indication that the child is being subjected to some kind of stress. What is the solution to anxiety and depression in young children? Let me hit you with an analogy … Have you ever flown on an airplane? Do you remember how the flight attendants instruct you that in the event of a loss of cabin pressure, you should place the oxygen mask on yourself before you place it on the child beside you? You have to help yourself before you can help others, particularly as a parent. Pick yourself up a copy of my program THE STRESS VACCINE™ and get started down the path of leading by example and managing the stress in your own life. And while you’re working on yourself, do everything you can to make your young child feel safe and unconditionally loved. A little goes a long way.
What about Zoloft for Children with Anxiety?
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