DEPRESSION IN KIDS

DEPRESSION in children is surely on the rise. Blame it on our life-style or the rapidly changing social scenario or on increased academic pressures, stress is taking a heavy toll of younger Indians. The word stress   is a very general term and is usually indicative of an individual?s mental or physical response to environmental (social, family and academic) pressures.

The mental handling capacity of a child is usually dependent upon the personality of the child. The personality is shaped up by two main factors: the genetically acquired traits and the environment the child is exposed to.

Some amount of stress and depression is considered normal for children. This is beneficial, too, as it helps them in adapting to the environment around them. The problem comes when either the stressor (condition or stimulus that causes stress) is very high or the child finds normal stress too difficult to handle. This results in mental as well as physical symptoms.

The effects of stress varies from one child to another, and each child may develop unique symptoms or individual styles of handling stress. Causes of stress include parents’ divorce, abuse or neglect, poverty, school failure or illness. Even positive events can create a degree of stress such as moving to a new home, a new job for a parent, a new baby in the family, etc.

A new form of stress is also there. Striving for academic excellence is also taking a big toll. Aspiring for professional colleges has led them into a different kind of lifestyle like late night study, waking up early for tuitions and too much indulgence in non-physical activities like computer and television is breeding high levels of stress in them. This kind of indulgence is keeping them away from any kind of physical recreational activities.

Children using the Internet and mobile phones are precociously exposed to an advanced stage of mental development thereby leading them to a state of confusion. It is being very commonly seen nowadays that girls are attaining puberty at a much early age. This is in reality a fallout of their minds developing faster than the physical body.

Medically speaking, it is very imperative to realise that children should not be drugged with medicines that slow down their nervous system and retard their development; a safer and more natural approach should be sought. Homoeopathy forms a safe and effective way of dealing with depression and stress. It aims at treating the root cause. Homeopathic medicines do not have any collateral damaging effects on the body and neither do they slow down your child’s nervous system.

Managing stress disorder becomes a very complicated task both for the parent and physician to handle. The first step in reducing stress is a stress-free environment. Counselling with an expert can be a great help in locating the cause of stress and helping the child to cope with it.

This feature ( authored by Dr. Vikas Sharma ) was earlier published in The Tribune(North India’s largest circulated daily newspaper). Dr. Vikas Sharma is regular Homeopathic columnist for The Tribune.You can mail him at  vikas@drhomeo.com