It seems like we have a lot of questions about younger children.
Question: How do I spot depression in a young child, seven or younger?
Usually, we look for specific things like a sense of melancholy or sadness, a dampening of emotions, pulling away from friends or family, and really maybe isolating from others. Those are some of the key signs we look for in situations like this.
That would be my suggestion—to look for those symptoms. But I would also add: what, as a parent, is triggering that question inside of you? What are you picking up on? If you trust your instincts, you’re likely seeing or feeling something that seems a little bit off or not quite right.
So I would actually recommend reading about the symptoms of depression. Usually, they include isolation, sadness, and a sense of loneliness. Sometimes it’s language like, “I’m not very good,” or “There’s something wrong with me,” or “I’m bad,” or “I’m not as good as others.” You might hear phrases like that.
Listen for those things and pay very close attention.
Follow-up: How do I address that?
There are two parts to depression we want to pay close attention to.
The first is situational depression, meaning there’s a situation that’s going on. Something might have happened on the playground, the child didn’t get invited to a party, or they’ve been bullied. These kinds of events can cause sadness and withdrawal.
The second type is depression related to biology. Sometimes it’s genetically inherited—a family trait of sadness and depression that gets passed down through generations. That is a real thing. If that’s the case, we do have some room to manage it.
There are ways to mitigate depressive symptoms. These include:
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Getting adequate sleep
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Eating healthy, nutritious foods
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Regular exercise
Exercise, especially, is very good for reducing depression. So we engage in healthy behaviors to help minimize some of the depressive symptoms.
If it’s genetically inherited, there’s no shame in that. What’s important is awareness.
Whether it’s situational or biological, our children will do better if they have:
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Enough sleep
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Consistent exercise
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Nutritious food
And one more powerful factor is social connection—feeling part of something, being included. Social connection is a phenomenal way to reduce depression.
