Depression in children is a mental health issue that is increasingly concerned, but is often overlooked or diagnosed late. Unlike adults, children find it difficult to express emotions in words, making depressed expressions easily misunderstood as stubborn behavior or common developmental disorders.
According to Dr. Sachin Baliga, a mental counselor at Fortis Hospital (Bengaluru, India), early identification of signs of depression is decisive for children's ability to recover and long-term mental health.
Symptoms of depression in children are often unclear
One of the main reasons why depression in children is difficult to detect is that children rarely express clear sadness or despair. Instead, children may become irritable, aggressive, withdrawn, overly sensitive or change behavior suddenly.
Manifestations such as unreasonable anger, clinging to parents, academic decline, or alienation from friends are often seen as normal developmental stages, leading to delays in finding professional support.
Easy to confuse with other psychological and developmental disorders
Symptoms of depression in children often overlap with many other conditions such as ADHD, anxiety disorder, learning difficulties, or age-related psychological changes. This makes diagnosis complicated and easily misguided.
In addition, many children with depression also manifest through physical symptoms such as headache, abdominal pain, prolonged fatigue or sleep disorders. These manifestations cause children to often be taken for physical examination, while psychological causes are ignored.
Environmental impacts and social factors
Children's mental health is greatly affected by the living environment and society. Learning pressure, school bullying, family conflicts, divorce, loss of loved ones or excessive use of electronic devices can all cause psychological harm to children.
In addition, discrimination against mental problems makes many parents hesitant to take their children to specialist clinics, slowing down the process of diagnosis and treatment.
Comprehensive assessment is the key factor
According to experts, no single test can diagnose depression in children. Assessments need to be based on many factors, including clinical interviews, age-appropriate psychological assessments, behavioral observations, and information gathering from parents and teachers.
Understanding the child's developmental stage is especially important, because young children are often not clearly aware of their emotions, while older children tend to hide sadness by withdrawing or taking risks.
Early intervention helps children recover positively
Dr. Sachin Baliga said that if detected early and properly intervened, children with depression have good recovery ability. Psychological therapy is a priority treatment direction, helping children recognize emotions and develop healthy coping skills.
For moderate to severe cases, medication can be considered under close supervision by a doctor. The companionship of family, school, and stable living habits play an important role in long-term recovery.
