Can a  4 year old really suffer from depression?
821474
Possibly.  Are you talking about the child on BBC1 this morning?  She might be upset but are her parents exploiting her and her situation a little?  At the end of the day she didn't get into the school because her parents registered her LATE.  Surely it's her parents fault...
675948
I have been coming to realize that there can be many forms of depression, according to its physical causes. What i mean by this is, lets say, some people may feel depressed for having divorced parents,others for a chronic ilness, others for a great loss or others for aparenttly no reason. The key to the cure is to find the source of your depression,accept it and work with it. You will possibly need medical help. And yes,little things will make you sad because you already have a predesposition to feeling down if you are depressed; the feeling can be of despair too,if you're deeply depressed.\n If you're just an eternal discontent then i think there is no cure,but a deep depression is a lot worse. If you'd like you can add up details to your question and the answers will be more specific. Best wishes.
631648
Yes - you are wrong. A 4 1/2 month old child can only express themselves through crying - crying is not necessarily a sign of great distress.\n\nIf you have checked all the obvious things - well fed, warm, dry, comfortable (and the child has been awake for at least a couple fo hours) then your child should be able to go to sleep.\n\nRemember this - if you train your child to be rocked/sang/walked/driven to sleep this is something you will be doing for some time. It is actually kind to teach your child how to fall asleep - that way when he/she wakes up in the night they will know how to send themselves back off to sleep without any distress.\n\nTrust me - I have 2 gorgeous children who are extremely well-adjusted and confident in themselves and my wife's and my love for them, and we used what is called controlled crying with both of them.\n\nThe key with controlled crying is you do not just pretend your child is there - you keep returning to their room or cot to reassure them of your presence, but without lifting them and stimulating them.\n\nRead up on it - but you are certainly not causing him harm if you ensure that his needs are met.\n\nSounds more like you have serious issues with your wife than with your child. Perhaps that's what you should be focusing on.
605686
I have suffered from depression since I can remember. I dealt with it by punching walls until my knuckles were bleeding, binge drinking when I was 14, smoking weed at an early age, and cutting myself. My depression would come and go, I'd feel good for a while then go through stints of depression. They'd last anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months. I probably was not eating as much because I'd sleep about 10-12 hours a day, so I wouldn't be awake to suffer. I was eventually put on Prozac, but I had to start seeing a psychologist to get the meds. I was on that treatment for about a year, then decided that I could deal with it on my own. I'm 23 now and even though I've stopped most of the self destructive behavior, I know that it's always there. For me it kind of feels like being a recovering alcoholic; you're never really get over it, but you gain the knowledge on how to cope with it. I just have to remind myself that there's bad days and good days; a rainbow comes out after the storm has passed. I'm a health fanatic now, I go to the gym and lift weights. It's my release... a lot of my depression manifested itself as anger, so instead of punching things and cutting myself I bench press and do curls.
1029595
yes u can be depressed at any age
730431
I don't know but I do know that when I was 10 I was seriosly thinking about commiting suicide because of my parents drug/alchole addiction.  My brother told me maney of times last year when he was 9 that he wanted to die, but I don't think he was seriose.  My friend went to one of those house things because she threatened to commit suside when she was like 9 or 10, because the DHS was taking away her mom.\n\nEDIT:\n\nThis took forever to find!!  well here:\n\nhttp://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2004/10/25/bullying-the-daily-grind/\n\nsad huh... :(\n\nhttp://aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts+for+Families&name=The+Depressed+Child\n\n\n\nHope that helped!!
806639
I suffer from major depression, ptsd and bpd last year and I have a 7 year old.  They wanted to hospitalize me, but I refused and agreed to a 5 day per week intensive outpatient therapy, and a cocktail of psych meds.  I am now back to work and functioning quite well. I assume you are single and that is why your daughter was taken away.  I have the luxury of being married.\n\nAnyway, my point is this...my little girl has seen me cry, sleep, lay around, ignore her, irritable, and at my worst.  I kind of wish I would have just been hospitalized and got it over with and not have her see me like that.  My husband and I were recently cleaning her room and found some of her writings and she wrote stuff like "mom is sick all the time" and "mom is sad".\n\nI really think that until you are better, your daughter is better off where she is.  She can be your motivation.  Whenever you think that life isn't worth living, just think of her.  That is what I did.\n\nYou are so young and you have your whole life ahead of you and so does your precious little girl.  You are sick.  Let the doctors treat you.  Get better, and get your daughter back!\n\nBest of luck to you!
964012
I've noticed that Psychic Cat lists herself as having the credentials of Adult & child psychology, and is very insightful and helpful in her answers. She has a 360 site as well. One of the questions she answered you might find helpful: "How do you cope with emotional pain?" Perhaps review some of her answers and see if any help you. \n\nPsychiatrists usually deal with the medicine end of mental issues, and leave the advice giving and counseling to therapists, psychologist, and counselors, but occasionally you will find a psychiatrist who does counseling as well. My son has a psychiatrist who gives advise, but it's usually centered on the condition he's treating at the time, and the medicine related to it. His cognitive therapist will listen to his problems, and then make suggestions, or reassure him, but the one helping my son the most is him self. Because he still has to take in everything that is said and then figure out what makes sense and what works best. I noticed another question you asked, "Why do parents treat their children’s depression like an inconvenience?" which would make depression even worse not having a parents support. My kids get my support, but not their father's and the conflict really gets in the way of helping them. Go figure. It is a conundrum to be sure. The best advice I can give is keep trying to figure it out, as there is an answer for you, and while you are searching be sure that you eat right or you will feel worse. Bananas chase the blues away, and Vitamin C is a healer, and Vitamin B complex helps aid with stress, lack of calcium can make you depressed and make it hard to get to sleep, lack of water can also make you more depressed. Also, protein gives us our amino acids, which helps make tryptophan a mood stabilizer. So be sure to eat right or at least get a multivitamin high in the B family. Best of luck to you.
570046
What looks like a mountain of trouble and heartache today, may be just a little bump in the road tomorrow. You must see a Doctor. Do what the doctor tells you. Depression is real, it is dangerous...it is treatable. Believe me, I suffer from it myself. You have to want to survive, believe in the goodness of yourself. Your family loves you. They may not understand you...but then, no one is ever completely understood by their loved ones! Do you understand them?  We are all unique in our own special ways!\nSee, you have come to this site for help...that is a wonderful thing,,,you are reaching out for help...I am so proud of you! Now, go a step further, go to someone else, get a doctor. Tell someone who can get you to real help. You are in a survival mode...be your own best friend! Suicide is not the answer...get help right now...
152964
Hmm, their self image really depends on the severity of the mental disability.  Or are you asking about self esteem of the child? That I can answer a little more easily but it still relates back to how severe the disability.  Mentally disabled children can easily fall into depression if they know they are "below" their peers in abilities and maturation.  This can be solved by ensuring the child finds something they are good at and feel that they may even be able to do it better than "normal" kids.  Face it even people with out disabilities want to be good at something.
617683
Sounds like depression with a bipolar disorder. Check with your local psychologist or psychiatrist. Hey, you really shouldn't ask people on here because it seems that most are infantile little children!
108215
Well some of these answers are kind of scary here. Chocolate can help short term, it does nothing at all for depression. Chocolate has a chemical reaction similar to the feeling of love and thats it. Slapping someone may make someone even more depressed, besides that is abuse plain and simple, sleep is not always the best things either as lots of depressed people will tell you that they sleep way too much. \n You need to be honest with yourself and try to figure out exactly is making you feel depressed. Is it just the thoughts running through your head? Is it a situation that is happening or has happened? There are many reasons that someone gets depressed and sometimes it is simpler than others.. Talk with someone that you trust totally. Not a friend, but someone like your doctor or a pastor a counselor. A friend may listen but they may be too close to the situation or you to be able to really help you. Depression does not need to be endured there are plenty of ways to deal with it.. I will be thinking of you and hope that you feel well soon.
176426
http://forums.psychcentral.com/\nThis forum board has a great deal of wonderful people who deal with many different things. I am sure you can find answers here to most questions you may have. The board is run very carefully and the website itself is run by a psychologist. I certainly wish you the best, depressed children need all the help and support possible. Congrats for trying to be there for them.
182232
1st its ok ! I use to hav the same problem when I was younger. She cood be suffering from depression or facing abusive parents all u need to do now is tell her u hate seeing her like this and tell her u'll always be there for her no matter what...and tht she needs to get help and open up to ppl...I kno its not the easiest thing to do but its the rite thing
444991
First of all it is not because of you.  Does she suffer depression?  There could be a lot of answers for this but, she needs to find them out on her own.  Have her ask her doctor.  There are things out there that her doctor can suggest.
233089
It can be.  Depression is a form of mental illness (more of an imbalance then illness, but along the same effects).  So, it is proven that mental illness can be passed down through generations.\n\nDepression also has to do with environment (not as much as it does with chemicals and balance) So, if you were raised in a family where one parent or a significant family member was suffering from depression, you learned at an early age to imitate these behaviors. \n\nThe most important thing in fighting depression is knowing that it can be controlled with Healthy diet, Dr.s supervision, Exercise (when you exercise and eat right your body produces more of the chemicals your body needs to feel good.  Also, Sunshine is important for processing your vitamin intake.  If with all of this you are still having a difficult time, Medications may be needed.  Only your Dr can know if they are right for you (wow, that just sounded like a commercial - lol)\n\nBut after all this rambling, Yes, it can be hereditary.
950934
Registered Nurse Here; Well hun, I think most of us feel this way from time to time, however when this starts out numbering the good days.  It would benefit you greatly to see a Physician, your family doctor, he or she, may decide with you to try a medication or they may suggest a psychiatrist.  Not sleeping well and crying spells are two classical symptoms of depression.  I know  your having a hard time, and there is no need for you to suffer to this degree in the era of medication and modern technology, you can be helped and assisted to feel better.  Please seek medical/mental attention,  there is MHMR, or a family practice doctor.  Both of these can put you on the road to recovery.  Thank you for the opportunity to address such a sensitive question.  Please seek some help.