Depression is serious, no matter what age it occurs at. And when your child is struggling, it can feel impossible to know what to do. Getting medical advice can feel scary. But having an expert guide your family through this can give you knowledge and hope.
At UVA Health Children’s, our mental health providers have expertise in treating children. Often, children’s mental health needs and treatment are very different from the treatment for adults.
Treating Depression at UVA Health Children’s
We offer many different types of depression treatment for children. We know there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for depression. And we’ll work with your family to find the right plan.
Therapy
For most patients with depression, talking through their emotions can be very helpful. With an expert, they can develop new strategies for coping. Depending on what is most age-appropriate for them, this can look like:
- Identifying and naming feelings
- Learning to examine their thoughts
- Finding activities that create positive feelings
- Identifying stressors
- Finding positives in their environment
While some therapy focuses on how your child talks to themselves or their actions, others focus on how they interact with others.
Medication
If your child’s depression is severe or isn’t responding to therapy, your provider may recommend medication. There are many medications available that can help treat depression in children and teenagers. Often, these medications make therapy more productive.
There’s no medication that’s right for every child. Finding the right medication means checking in frequently. At follow-up appointments, we’ll talk about side effects, mood changes, and how your child feels.
How Parents Help with Medication
It can be hard for children to remember and evaluate how they felt on each day. Many parents keep a record of their child’s behavior and mood while trying new medications. This allows for a day-by-day record that can help your child’s provider tailor their treatment.
Suicidal Ideation
Sometimes depression can cause scary thoughts. You might be afraid your child will hurt themselves. If your child is struggling with thoughts of hurting themselves, we’ll come up with a safety plan. Sometimes that plan can include hospitalization.
Hospitalization can help keep kids with severe depression safe while treatment has a chance to work. While UVA Health Children's does not currently offer inpatient pediatric mental health treatment, we will work with local partners to find the right place for your child to heal.
How Do I Know If My Child Is Depressed?
It can be hard to know if your child is suffering from depression. Especially if they can’t name exactly what they’re feeling.
Here are some of the signs of depression.
Symptoms of Depressions
Young children may:
- Seem scared or worried
- Get easily frustrated or angry
- Isn’t playing with other kids
- More tantrums or aggression
- Have trouble sleeping
- Over or under eat
- Complain of frequent pain without obvious physical cause
In Elementary/Middle School kids, you may also notice:
- Negative self-talk
- Lower self-esteem
- Unwillingness to challenge themselves
- Low energy levels
- School avoidance
- Talking less
In High School-Aged Kids, you may see:
- Alcohol or drug use
- Social isolation
- Less attention to hygiene or appearance
- Risky behavior
- Inability to sit still
- Them speak or move unusually slowly
Depression FAQs
At what age do depression symptoms show up?
Even children as young as 3 can show symptoms of depression. But depression more commonly shows up after puberty, around age 12.
How common is depression in kids?
By high school, 1 in 5 children will have had a serious depressive episode. And it often goes unnoticed and untreated. Despite many high school students reporting serious thoughts of suicide, many are never treated. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death amongst young people.
Do antidepressants cause suicide in children?
Many parents have heard that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide. This can make them scared to try it with their child, especially when they’re already struggling.
When prescribing a medication, your provider will go over the specifics of it in detail with you. If they are recommending an antidepressant, it’s because they believe it will help your child’s medical condition.
Careful monitoring is an important stage when starting any new antidepressant.
My child seems depressed, but they don’t want to see a doctor. What do I do?
No one knows what’s happening inside your child’s mind as well as they do. But they also may not know what’s normal. They may worry about what it means to be assigned a label like ‘depressed.’
Talk to them about why it’s important to care for their mental health. Avoid using labels and let them share as much as they're comfortable with.