Stubbornness and depression in children
One of the childhood disorders is anxiety and depression that can be treated if diagnosed in time. Depression in children often occurs due to negligence, corporal punishment and child abuse , etc.
It is a little difficult to diagnose depression in children, especially under the age of 3, because it is confused with periods of moodiness and stubbornness. Naturally, from the age of 15 months to 3.5 years, the child has stubborn behaviors and grunts to achieve his desires, which include kicking, banging, screaming, and so on. These behaviors are perfectly normal at this age, not depressive.
For this reason, it is usually easier to diagnose depressive symptoms from about age 3.
How to deal with a child’s stubbornness so that he is not harmed psychologically?
The most important thing is to study and increase parents’ awareness of the psychological characteristics and features of children at different ages that can be effective in controlling their behaviors. For example, distracting a child from desires that can lead him to stubbornness is one way to control his stubbornness.
In fact, the mother should always think about preventing stubbornness and barking because it is much more difficult to manage the child’s behavior when he falls into the barking phase. Sometimes it is necessary to say “no” to the child’s wishes. In this case, parents should be serious in their behavior and not despair by observing the child’s stubbornness, do not fall short and do not worry about his depression because, as mentioned, these behaviors are quite normal in infancy.
Of course, we consider this behavior to be somewhat normal in adolescence, because according to the definition of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, childhood is up to 18 years of age.
Can a child’s anger also be a sign of depression?
Yes, but if these symptoms persist from about 3-4 years of age and are present in the child for at least 2 to 3 weeks, we suspect depression.
Symptoms of depression in children
One of the most important symptoms of depression in children is irritability and anger. For example, you see a child who used to be good-natured and had no problems, but now, in addition to being sad, he gets angry and reacts very quickly. Many children cry for no reason. Is this a sign of depression?
The baby becomes more sensitive and irritable during the period of depression, hates faster and cries more, but not every cry is a sign of depression.
In depression, sometimes even the child cries for up to an hour or two for very trivial matters, and this, along with other symptoms of depression, can make the family suspect that the child is depressed. In other words, during depression, the child experiences a decline in quality of life, less access to friends, does not participate in group games and does not enjoy life. Parents should not associate crying children with depression because this is not the case in most cases. So it is not easy to differentiate a child’s behavioral problems from depression?
It is not too difficult because the child’s behavioral problems usually do not affect his quality of life. The child plays, laughs, communicates with friends, and… But depression is a disorder that affects the quality and normal life of the child. It is at this point that parents should suspect that their child is suffering from depression and take him or her to a psychiatrist.
To what extent do parents play a role in their child’s depression?
If the child is neglected in the family environment, the child is physically abused, severely punished, etc. ،, he / she will definitely be exposed to depression. Children whose one parent is depressed are twice as likely to be depressed, and children whose parents are both depressed are 4 times more likely to develop depression. In addition to genetics, hormonal factors, daily life stresses , parental stress, and. Can also play a role in causing and depressing a child.
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