Everyone feels sad or upset once in a while. Life’s stress and modern lifestyle demands it frequently. Every kid has felt upset about getting a bad grade at school or losing a friendship. However, depression is something different. It is not just feeling sad or miserable now and then.
It is a mood disorder that is characterized or described by feelings of sadness, loss, hopelessness, or hostility, which impacts the individual’s life and daily acts. While sorrow and grief can often be confused with depression, they are not the same.
While sadness can be a sign and grief a reason, multiple other factors play a role in determining and diagnosing depression in children. India is a diverse nation with mountains, seas, forests, and plains to showcase it initially.
People living in different places have varying social customs, etiquette, and cultural norms. These factors influence the risks and occurrence of depression in kids as well. Indian studies have found that tribal children are least likely to be affected by depression.
Rural children may moderately be prone to it, while urban kids are at the highest risk. This brings into question what causes depression or increases the risk of incurring it in kids. Here’s a quick guide.
Chemical imbalances in the brain can seriously impact mood, thoughts, sleep, appetite, behavior, beliefs, and decision-making in children, causing depression. Also, certain brain structural abnormalities in children, like having an underdeveloped frontal lobe, can increase the risk of depression.
Hormonal changes that take place during puberty in kids can also increase the risk of depression. This is more common in female prepubescent kids as changes in levels of estrogen and progesterone can impact mood and brain functioning, making them more prone to depressive disorders.
Family history plays a key role in developing depression in Indian children. As this disorder was not as frequently diagnosed in previous generations, if one or more people in the family have suffered depression, then the kids are at a much higher risk of having it.
Suppose children have been a part of a broken household or have experienced domestic or other forms of abuse. In that case, that traumatic experience can increase the likelihood of developing depression in them. Certain familial and social situations may trigger such kids and cause their bodies to react with fear and apprehension automatically.
Certain medical and health conditions like stroke, heart attack, Parkinson’s Disease, chronic pain, cancer, obesity, and more put kids at a higher chance of incurring depression. Certain medications and drugs may also increase the risk of developing depressive spectrum disorders in children.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked with depressive and anxious symptoms in children. On the other hand, kids who played outdoors in the sun regularly and had a diet replete with vitamin D reported better mood and a lower chance of becoming clinically depressed.
Depression is more common in individuals who are already suffering from mental health condition, such as anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, mood disorders, and more. Therefore, comorbidity is a valid factor that increases the likelihood of depression.
Depression is a rising concern in India now. As time passes, more and more young children get afflicted by it and fail to reach their full potential in life. Plus, depression causes significant personal, social, and academic distress to children as well as their parents. Therefore, it is time to pick up the slack and focus on keeping depression at bay with the help of this handy guide.
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