Jack's advice to a child who may be depressed

Dear Jack,

I think there is something wrong with me.  School’s a drag.  My teachers are a drag.  Sometimes I feel like everything is closing in on me and all I want to do is sleep for a very long time.  There are some days that are okay, but sometimes I just want to be left alone.  I don’t want to be with other kids and they don’t want to be with me.  They all hate me!  I’m mad all of the time and I don’t know what to do about it.

Jed

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Dear Jed,

Thanks for being so honest about your feelings.  It sounds like you are really sad and I’m wondering if you are suffering from depression. There’s a book called "Kid Power Tactics for Dealing with Depression" that I like to suggest for kids to read. It’s written by a 6^th grader and his mom.  In the book it talks about depression being an illness that six million kids suffer from.  There are two kinds of depression – the sad kind and the mad kind. The sad kind is when you just want to hide from the world.  When you have the mad kind, you may feel like you want to hide from the world, but what you show to others is someone angry, disagreeable and, sometimes, even mean.

Depressed kids are not bad, they just want to be happy and liked.  Sometimes people may think they are crazy; cry babies; stupid or faking it -- but depression is real.  It can affect how you feel, think and act.  You may cry a lot, feel like the world isn’t a safe place, no one likes you, life isn’t fun, you have no energy, you are eating too much or too little, you can’t concentrate in school, you are on edge and you may make bad choices about drugs, drinking and skipping school. Depression is not an excuse for making bad choices.  It doesn’t mean you can blow off school and not try your best.

It’s important to see your family doctor to make sure there isn’t some other reason why you seem depressed.  There are other medical problems that make you look and feel like you are depressed, such as a bump on the head or not getting enough vitamins.  Once your doctor is sure that your feelings are caused by depression there are several kinds of treatment.  Medication and therapy are two methods of treatment.  Medication is used to balance the chemicals in your brain so that your emotions can get back on track.  Therapy is done by a trained professional to help you feel better emotionally through talking, art work and games.  Sometimes your entire family comes to the appointments.

Whatever you decide needs to happen, I’m glad you talked to me.  I hope my advice helps and you see your doctor real soon.  Take care Jed.  If you want, you can always call my mom, Toni, and talk to her.  She’s one of those professional people who work with kids and their emotions.

Jack