How to treat childhood depression

How can parents help with childhood depression? What do you need to know about childhood depression? How do I naturally cope with depression? What medications treat both ADHD and depression? Childhood depression is different from the normal blues and everyday emotions that occur as a child develops.

WebMD explains the signs and treatment of childhood depression.

Depression affects about of preschool and school-age children. Learn more about depression in children external icon. Knowing the signs can help you find the help a child needs to fight depression and to feel better. Early treatment can help prevent lifelong.

Treating childhood depression is very similar to treating depression in adults, although in this case a careful diagnosis is extremely important. It is important to rule out all other possible physical causes of symptoms before deciding to treat for depression. There are two antidepressants approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat childhood depression.

Fluoxetine (Prozac) is approved for use in children years and older and escitalopram (Lexapro) is approved for use in kids older than 12.

FDA has approved two drugs—fluoxetine (Prozac) and escitalopram (Lexapro)—to treat depression in children. It is a serious health condition, which if left untreate increases risk of future, prolonged and more severe depressive episodes. Untreated depression in childhood and adolescence can pose risk of suicide.

To test whether PCIT could be adapted to treat childhood depression , a team led by Dr. Joan Luby at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis enrolled 2children (ages 3–6) with early childhood depression and their parents. Over an 18-week perio they tested PCIT with an added emotional development (ED) component. Recent scientific literature regarding childhood depression converge to, directly or indirectly, highlight the negative impacts of depressive disorders to the children’s quality of life.

Antidepressants can also be used for other conditions. The antidepressant imipramine (Tofranil) is approved by the FDA to treat daytime or nighttime involuntary urination ( childhood enuresis) in children years of age and older. Your doctor may recommend psychotherapy (counseling to help with emotions and behavior) or medicine for depression.

Treat any thoughts of suicide as an emergency. Be willing to talk about what your child is feeling and be careful to remain supportive and non-judgmental. Study shows exercise fights back against childhood depression.

Psychologists have developed different treatments to assist children and adolescents suffering from depression , though the legitimacy of the diagnosis of childhood depression as a psychiatric disorder, as well as the efficacy of various methods of assessment and treatment, remains controversial. In addition, recognizing and diagnosing childhood depression is not a simple task. It is not uncommon for children to be diagnosed with both depression and an anxiety disorder, or depression and general anxiety.

About half of people diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Major depression , or clinical depression , is a mood or “affective” disorder, a category of disorders that includes unipolar depressive disorder, dysthymia and bipolar disorder. Although depression can occur in young children, it is much more common in adolescents. The information provided should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition.

A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. However, the doctor will most likely not diagnose or treat a child for depression. Take your child for a checkup with the doctor at least once a year to make sure his body is growing and developing the way it is supposed to.

You may be able to ward off depression symptoms before they ever come up. Continue to the next part of this guide to learn how to treat childhood depression.