What can be done to help our children with depression?

Question

I gather more children than ever are suffering from a mental illness. What can be done, in your opinion, to help them?

I am hugely encouraged by the positive answers so far, thanks.

Answer 1

Fewer working mums. Fewer marital breakdowns. More discipline. Less TV. Fewer computers and more real life. Bring back mortgage relief for couples. Tax couples together and give incentives for families to remain together.
Give children the opportunity to value the real things about us and understand and appreciate this world.

Answer 2

Allowing children to be children and for people to stop buying into the media generated fear of each other.
Children are prevented from doing child-like things and are being treated as "little adults" far too often.
Often, the parents are behaving as teenagers and any adult from a broken home who has ever had to "take up the slack" for adult teenagers knows the responsibility. A person is forced to grow up.
There is the problem of so many not being satisfied with what they have in life combined with mass consumerism and the need to have more and better than the next guy creating a "never good enough" atmosphere.
Children are subjected to a constant stream of violence, sexual imagery and pressures to be a certain way, ie; religious, academically, socially thus giving children a sense of no hope.
It's a trickle down effect from the parents to the children. Often children are taught to be depressed. If a child is supported in life, they grow up with a sense of well-being. If a child is subjected to a depressed parent - that will be all they know and they will, in turn create that reality for themselves.
In other words, a depressed parent can't expect their child to be any different. Depressed individuals suck the life out of everything around them - through no fault of their own - and if the depressed person happens to be your parent whom you cannot "escape" from, you are bound to be depressed as well until you see a different way of being.
Children will mirror what they see from their parents and have an excellent inner barometer that tells them when something is wrong. When that something is their parent / parents, eventually, the child learns to accept the state of mind of the depressed parent and to become depressed within themselves. In the case of depression in children, a more holistic approach must be taken in the treatment of the child's whole surroundings.
There's no point sending a teenager or child to a psychiatrist or counsellor and not looking at the parents or siblings as well. It isn't always just chemical. If the child's surroundings are brought into the therapy as well, we would find that the parental approach must be treated in order to treat the child.

Oh, and "Hope" said it all with less space than I did.

Answer 3

I don't think they get enough excercise. When I was at school I used to walk a total of 8 miles a day going to and from school. Add to that PE and all the running around at break times. Its proven that excercise encourages endorphines and other feel good chemicals. Also we all used to go out running about in the evenings as well, not just sit in front of the telly. Trouble now is children don't walk anywhere, and get rides of mum and dad. Though with the heavier volumes of traffic on the road theses days and the higher profile of those adults who look at children as they shouldn't I don't see how this can be rectified.

Answer 4

In children I would prefer to see more Cognitive restructuring going on. At a young age the kind of thinking that leads to depression can be retrained more easily. Also, for children to be depressed they have to have something in their environment that is tipping the balance toward the negative. Because kids on their own will bounce back from a lot of things.

So we really need to make sure that adults in their lives or their environment are not exacerbating the problem. And change that environment as soon as possible, through education or if need be through removal from the damaging situation.

Answer 5

I believe that children need more physical activity than they are currently encouraged to do. Exercise releases endorphins, the substance that enables the brain cells to feel 'happy'. Parents should take their kids out to play, for a walk, start a dance party in the living room. Pull them away from sitting in front of the TV or the computer. Schools should re-instate recess to let them run, use their muscles, and release their endorphins.

Answer 6

all the posters make good points about having a good home, no violence, etc. But the fact is that it is hard to be a child, you are at the mercy of adults, you have no power when you are a child, no money, no security unless your parents provide it. Everything you do and have depends on your parents and that's pretty rough sometimes. No it's not much fun being a child at times.

Answer 7

1) Provide a safe and stable environment.
2) To want and to love the child unconditionally
3) Hugs and lap and snuggle time
4) Listen and care
5) because the child will mirror the emotional well-being of the parent, see that you are relaxed, positive, and mentally/emotionally healthy.

Answer 8

I dont think this is a true statistic. I believe that young people know what depression is so are going to the docs to be treated for it. Years ago they would have just put it down to having a down day, now its depression.
If it is true however, I think we should ban teen magazines that tell us that we should be skinny and have this, that or the other to be cool. Can you believe they make thongs for girls under 12? I wasnt allowed to wear make up til I was 16, and that wasnt that long ago!!

Answer 9

Its because the parents are being more selfish and leaving the children to get on with it. We are parenting less and kicking them out earlier.. We need to nourish and encourage them more. Trust me i know first hand. I had post natal depression after having my 2nd child.. as a result my first child suffered and no i am having to work hard to get him out of it...

Answer 10

Get involved with them.

Stop putting them on drugs first and get out a ball and go play with them.

We live in a world today where the kids are raised by a video game and microwave oven instead of a Mom and Dad.

As a society, worldwide, we need to be active and playful with our kids...when we include ourselves in thier lives they feel more confident and sure of themselves. Their successes are more fun and their failures less painful with Mom and Dad there to aid, cheer, tell them they did their best, and love them.

That is what our kids need.

Us!

Best Regards.