Depression & Child Threrapy

Is your child/teenager sad, blue or depressed? Has he lost interest in activities he once enjoyed? Has he lost confidence in himself? Is she isolating and disconnecting from her peers or easily irritable? Is her weight changing? Is he starting to show some destructive behaviors?

Your child may be depressed.

Depression is a serious condition that is rapidly rising in children and adolescents. Depression affects their moods, their thoughts, and behavior at home and in school. It also affects the way they relate to peers. The rate of childhood depression is increasing by 23% a year according to a Harvard Medical Center study.

In the U.S. nearly 2.5 percent of children suffer from depression and nearly 8.3 percent of adolescents suffer from depression. Most research results in depression proved that it is occurring more in an earlier age than in past decades. Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing group of sufferers and of antidepressant users. At least four percent of preschoolers, over a million, are clinically depressed.

It is critically important that you recognize your child’s signs of depression to get the needed help. Depression is treatable. Research has shown that cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy, and solution-focused therapy are effective and lead to much fewer relapses than when medication is used. Therapy will teach them the thinking, relational social skills they need to be good problem solvers able to handle life challenges.

San Diego Couples and Family Therapy provides child counseling and teenage therapy in the convenient area of Sorrento Valley Road. We also serve the surrounding areas of La Jolla, UTC San Diego, Del Mar, University City, Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Poway, and Escondido.

For your information:
Only two antidepressant medications have been approved by the food and drug administration (FDA) for children and adolescents. Most antidepressant medications have not been approved because there has been some concern that their use may induce suicidal behavior in youths. In spite of that, 6 million American children are taking a number of antidepressant medications yet we still have no clear indication as to how these medications will affect the neurological, social, relational development of these children.

Learn more about antidepressants for children and young adults