Treating Anxiety and Depression in Children

Anxiety and depression are the two most common mental health disorders. Although they're different, they often occur together and have similar treatments. But, sadly, they're not only found among adults but children as well.

Anxiety disorders and depression can be lifelong, but getting the right support from an early age helps the individual attain an optimal quality of life regardless.

The good thing is that it's pretty easy to detect anxiety and depression in children.

So, before discussing how to treat these mental health conditions, let's highlight how to know when your child is experiencing anxiety or depression.

Anxiety Disorder in Children

Many children have fears and worries. It could be about losing a parent, being left alone in the bedroom, or having a phobia of dark rooms and insects. These things are normal. But when a child doesn't outgrow their typical childhood fears, instead the fears become more persistent and interfere with their activities and school; it could be a sign of anxiety disorder.

The following are examples of anxiety disorders in children:

• Separation anxiety: Being very scared when away from the parents.
• Phobia: having irrational and excessive fear of insects, dark places, hospitals, or some other thing or situation
• Social anxiety disorder: intense fear or worry about interacting with people.
• Panic disorder: experiencing multiple episodes of sudden and intense fear accompanied by pounding heart, troubled breathing, and jittering or sweating. It is like an attack but without any visible trigger.
• General anxiety disorder: this is when a child always worries about seemingly minor things like grades, the future, their performance in dancing or art, etc.

It's common for anxiety to present itself as fear and worry, but it may also cause the child to become irritable. Fatigue, stomach aches, and sleeping problems are also symptoms of anxiety in children. Remember that a child can keep their worries to themselves, so you should watch out for these other physical symptoms.

Depression

Feeling sad and hopeless is something we have all experienced at some point. The problem is when that feeling becomes persistent and detracts from your ability to enjoy the good things of life.

When a child becomes persistently sad, uninterested in activities they once enjoyed, and start feeling hopeless, they may be experiencing depression.

A child with depression may behave in the following ways:

• Disinclined to play
• Feeling worthless and inferior
• Feeling guilty and desiring to cause self-harm
• Feeling moody or sad more often than not
• Eating more or less than usual
• Having a distracted and faraway look during mealtime
• Sluggishness and lethargy

It's worthy of note that your child may be averse to talking about their problems. They may keep all their feelings of hopelessness, shame, and guilt to themselves, making their depression go unnoticed. But you won't fail to notice their lack of motivation, lethargy, and apathy for fun activities. These should be tell-tale signs that your child needs help.

How to Help a Child with Anxiety and Depression

The first step to treating a child with anxiety and depression is to discuss it with a mental health care provider or your child's GP. That's the best you can do as a parent because you can't treat your child's anxiety and depression by yourself.

It's also common for your child's anxiety or depressive symptoms to result from an underlying condition such as trauma or ADHD. Only a mental health specialist can dig deep enough to diagnose and treat the root cause of your child's condition.

Notably, parental support is key to treating anxiety and depression in children. So you'll have to get involved.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is often an effective treatment for older children with anxiety and depression. It can help change the child's negative thoughts to more positive ones, giving them a positive outlook on life. This will help them see that not all their fears or imaginations will happen, at least not anytime soon. Careful assessment will also help determine if medication should be a part of the treatment.

Good food with lots of vitamins and breathing exercises can also help your child combat their anxieties. Make this your responsibility as their parent.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.