Why would children get angry with their parents because the parents suffered chronic depression?

Answer 1

Depression is very hard to understand... afterall we have all had experiences of being very sad or confused and then when something happened and we had to pull ourselves together we could.... so when someone is depressed and unable to just pull themselves together it doesnt quite make sense to anyone..(most of all the people who are depressed)

If you love someone and they are miserable you want very much to make them happy... and when you disover you can't you can develop a feeling that it is you that is causing their misery...

Depressed parents are not able to do lots of the normal parent things and are more likely to be disorganised and unable to offer real encouragement to their kids... this makes life for the kids very difficult... and leaves the kids very unsupported emotionally.. which are pretty sane reasons to be angry with your parents..

If the parents aren't there for the kids... the kids feel a loss... which then puts them in a grief process of kinds and the anger is normal stage of grief...

Answer 2

Chronic Depression almost always has an element of neglect.

Most kids will be resentful if the problem takes importance over them. They understand there is a problem but that's all they understand.

A child as you know needs routine. When that's disrupted or when it's no longer there, they do get angry over neglect (not having time for them) and uncertainty.

I'm not saying you're neglectful. I am saying that it comes with Depression whether you realize it or not.

How often have you felt like an ineffective parent? It should happen to everyone who suffers depression (well, almost everyone).

My son was neglected by his Chronically depressed mother. She didn't cook, clean, or even help support him. She stayed in bed or online all day neglecting him and his sister.

He came to live with me last year and I gave him the routine he needed. Now, all the resentment toward his Mom is gone. He adjusted very well and I'm very happy for him but this was an example of how the routine affected him.

He learned to count on meals, clothes (hadn't had new clothes at all), and consistency from my wife and I.

Good luck. I know there's resentment on both sides usually. Let it go...

Answer 3

Because they don't understand what chronic depression is really, other than how it has affected their life. A parent is supposed to take care of their children and I can imagine it would be hard to be 100% while suffering depression.

Answer 4

The reason is fear. Children, especially young children, between new born and four or five, relate to their parents both cognitively [physical senses and brain] and mentally with their MINDs via Direct Esoteric communication. That is, the MINDs of children are quite sensitive to the MIND-level energies within the MINDs of their parents. The children's MINDs empathically pick up whatever is being repressed within the MINDs of their parents.

In the case of a parent experiencing depression... there is considerable fear within the parent's MIND. When the MIND of the child experiences this, it causes anxiety within the child, and this causes the child to become fearful, and the child's MIND converts this fear into anger and projects this anger. Anger is the form in which the child's MIND "vents" the energy generated by repressing the child's anxiety.... and this dissociated anger is naturally projected towards the object of that which is stimulating the child's anxiety.

Of course neither the parent nor the child is aware of all the MIND-level activity going on within themselves.

Answer 5

Because parents who are chronically depressed have difficulty providing for themselves let alone their children. Often these children have the responsibilty of caring for their parents and they grow up too soon and miss out on being a child.

Answer 6

If you're referring to true chronic severe depression, this is a disabling condition that renders the afflicted virtually incapable of performing even the most rudimentary of tasks. If children have a parent like this, they are left to fend for themselves, have no one to care for them, love them, play with them, etc. A child can't understand that the parent is ill and that is the reason for their behavior. They will frequently then just be angry at the parent for not being like other kids' parents they see.

Answer 7

because the focus is lost. Parent are supposed to take care of the children, not the other way around. The child may not understand what chronic depression is, and see it as the parent just may not want them.

Answer 8

I can tell you from personal experience. Growing up, my mother was always depressed. She was not on any medication for it. My father was loud and verbally abusive, which added to the problem. We basically walked around on eggshells.

Anyway, I became more and more angry with my mother because she was always depressed. Our house was cluttered with all kinds of things, but she refused to clean it up. She would sit and watch her soaps all day. An hour before my dad got home, she would suddenly jump into action and straighten the house a bit. If I tried to clean anything up, she'd yell at me to leave her stuff alone. The other kids in the neighborhood were never allowed in our home because it was such a mess.

In retrospect, my heart goes out to my mom. I was angry with her because she kept me from interacting with my friends in a more normal manner. There is much more but too lengthy to go into. It boils down to being forced to live in a mess, and being absolutely helpless as a child to do anything to improve it. I wasn't a lazy kid. I would've been happy to help her. She wouldn't let me, and it made me really angry. It's like the depression holds a child as prisoner. The child is only allowed to do things as far as the depressed person feels like doing that day. If they are really depressed, the child does nothing and gets no positive attention. They're just left to sit there and accept a very desperate situation. I wish she would've sought help.

Answer 9

Maybe because the condition hasn't been explained to them properly. The anger is probably partly brought on by fear.
Chronic depression forces alot of people to be very fatiqued and the child probably feels neglected because of the parents lack of attention to them.

Answer 10

The children probably don't understand what the parents are going through, even if they are old enough to understand. I think it takes a lot to be fully understanding.