Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?

[undeterred]

The New York Times By PAMELA PAUL Published: August 25, 2010

Kiran didn’t seem like the type of kid parents should worry about. “He was the easy one,” his father, Raghu, a physician, says. “He always wanted to please.” Unlike other children in his suburban St. Louis preschool, Kiran (a nickname his parents asked me to use to protect his identity) rarely disobeyed or acted out. If he dawdled or didn’t listen, Raghu (also a nickname) had only to count to five before Kiran hastened to tie his shoes or put the toys away. He was kind to other children; if a classmate cried, Kiran immediately approached. “Our little empath!” his parents proudly called him.

<snip>

Is it really possible to diagnose such a grown-up affliction in such a young child? And is diagnosing clinical depression in a preschooler a good idea, or are children that young too immature, too changeable, too temperamental to be laden with such a momentous label? Preschool depression may be a legitimate ailment, one that could gain traction with parents in the way that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (A.D.H.D.) and oppositional defiant disorder (O.D.D.) — afflictions few people heard of 30 years ago — have entered the what-to-worry-about lexicon. But when the rate of development among children varies so widely and burgeoning personalities are still in flux, how can we know at what point a child crosses the line from altogether unremarkable to somewhat different to clinically disordered? Just how early can depression begin?

The answer, according to recent research, seems to be earlier than expected. Today a number of child psychiatrists and developmental psychologists say depression can surface in children as young as 2 or 3. “The idea is very threatening,” says Joan Luby, a professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, who gave Kiran his diagnosis and whose research on preschool depression has often met with resistance. “In my 20 years of research, it’s been slowly eroding,” Luby says of that resistance. “But some hard-core scientists still brush the idea off as mushy or psychobabble, and laypeople think the idea is ridiculous.”

For adults who have known depression, however, the prospect of early diagnosis makes sense. Kiran’s mother had what she now recognizes was childhood depression. “There were definite signs throughout my grade-school years,” she says. Had therapy been available to her then, she imagines that she would have leapt at the chance. “My parents knew my behavior wasn’t right, but they really didn’t know what to do.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29preschool-t.html?_r=1

[Posteritatis]

1. That article's a fairly painful mirror; ugh. (nt)

[nightrain]

2. apparently some needs are not being met, or ??endogenous depression??????

hope they're doing some play therapy and family therapy!

[hedgehog]

4. Don't forget, it wasn't so long ago that "ice-box" mothers

were blamed for causing autism. While a bad situation can trigger a depression, I think it only happens if there is an underlying genetic component. I suspect that more often than not, there is no trigger. People who "should" be happy can be very depressed.

[nightrain]

6. yes... endogenous/genetic component..

[hedgehog]

8. Sorry - I didn't know what "endogenous" meant. Now I do.

:hi:

[nightrain]

10. not a problem...

:hi: back

[hedgehog]

3. Been there, done that. I can trace depressive illness four gererations

on both sides of my family and one side of my husband's.I'm so glad I was able to get my kids help. I like my life very much, but it could have been a lot easier for me if I didn't have to fight my disease myself for so long.

[jwirr]

5. Our family history is much like yours. We too are able to recognize

the need for help earlier and get them the help they need. We have also been able to teach them how to cope with the life problems we have all gone through.

It may not be as easy for families that do not have a recognized history.

[hedgehog]

7. There are also a lot more treatment options out there today.

[jwirr]

9. Yes indeed, no more lobotomies and shock treatments in the institutions.

That is all for the better.

[nightrain]

11. sadly electro-shock txes are still done for very "resistant" depression......

If we had real health CARE reform, so much better could/would be done for people. That's the travesty as I see it.

[jwirr]

12. My mother had shock treatment and it seemed to help her at the time.

However, she spent the rest of her life letting my father make all the real decisions for our family. And she once told me that there was a 6 months period in her life she could not remember at all. Since I lived through those months with her I think she may have been lucky not to remember. But she only had several treatments. I understand that there are people who were damaged by extended use of shock treatment. Either way I agree that we need better health care services in the country.

[nightrain]

13. yes. how very sad. I don't know about that "protectiveness" of memory loss. Personally, I

would rather be conscious and remember, than have a void. I've had a sorta comparable personal tragedy with some memory loss of the experience in childhood. In my experience -- "that which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger"-- I think we vastly underestimate our capacity for growth...

Thanks for sharing...

And yes, better health CARE services are desperately needed.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. Yes. I had it at age 4.

[mzteris]

15. yes. children can be depressed - clinically depressed -

and they need treatment!

This diagnosis, however, should be made by a licensed psychologist/psychiatrist - NOT the "family doctor".

[bemildred]

16. Well, if they live in a depressing environment, I guess they could get depressed.

Just like anyone.