How can I help my child with depression? – GOOD SHAPE

The depressive episode occurs due to multifactors, such as genetic factors, interference from the family nucleus and how they relate to each other, school environment and possible experiences of trauma, among others. In general, there are some points to be considered to help the child with depression:

In cases where there is already a change in depressive behavior, such as loss of interest in pleasurable activities, lack of mood, energy and disposition, preference for activities in isolation, anxiety or irritability, reduced need for sleep or excessive sleep, drop in school performance .

More intense cases may present self-mutilation, suicidal thinking and/or planning. At times when the depressive condition is already bringing greater damage to your psyche, it is essential that you seek psychological follow-up and, if you notice a greater intensity of symptoms, seek a psychiatrist you trust.

There are some points that parents should reflect on to help their child with depression and also to prevent it from developing:

1. The child is a reflection of the environment: Parents should be careful to preserve individuality and balance over the years so that they can be a reference for their child with depression. Both the mother and the father must exercise care in a complementary way and this care must respect the space of gradual and growing development of psychic autonomy. It is important that parents also seek help.

2. Sustain the daily routine: The basics need to be remembered and sustained, as it is part of the education and maturation process. Basic questions like:

– food routine: preserving the three daily meals, the quality and quantity of food and not allowing meals to take place in the bedroom.
– bedtime: make sure they sleep early and have quality and repairing sleep, because today, with screens, young people easily sleep until dawn without their parents’ knowledge.
– study schedule
– time to help with some of the household chores
– time for personal hygiene
– time of use of screens and conditions for which they can use

Adjusting the dynamics of the routine must be agreed in advance with the participation of the children, but making it clear that some basic points are non-negotiable and must happen daily.

This brings important emotional organization to them and also prevents the parent/child relationship from becoming overloaded or strained due to the need for small daily charges for each of these points to be done.

3. Use of screens: pay attention to the excessive use of screens, time followed by screen is quite harmful, not being able to spend more than an hour and taking breaks. Do not allow isolation in the bedroom, as they gradually become disorganized and close their entire isolated routine and here comes the disruption of sleep as well.

4. Moments of family conversation: Preserve the habit of relaxed moments of conversation with the children so that you can keep up with the children’s routine.

5. Leisure activities: Preferably, to develop some new skill such as: playing an instrument, painting and others.

6. Spirituality: Encourage the cult of religiosity according to the customs of each family.

7. Physical activities: Aerobics 3x/week, preferably in a group and non-negotiable, as they play a fundamental role as a protective factor for childhood depression.

8. School performance: Pay attention to how development is at school, whether in terms of socialization, interaction, behavior, academic performance.

9. Psychological trauma: Pay attention to changes in behavior after experiencing something remarkable, such as a period of parental divorce, parental alienation, bullying at school, death of a close family member, experience of psychological violence, physical trauma, even abuse, and others.

10. Develop and preserve the parent-child relationship: Each child has its functioning, temperament, affinity and, therefore, it will be easier to open up about certain subjects more with the father than the mother or vice versa.

Keep this open door of trust, with dialogues that move your reasoning to think in other ways about your issues, without judgments or ready concepts.

Being able to do this is certainly an important factor of emotional organization for the development of psychic maturity through the development of skills and distancing from depressive conditions.