In the children's ward of Peking University Sixth Hospital, the children were under the leadership of medical staff for group treatment. The youngest children admitted here are only 4 years old, and the oldest is under 18 years old. Most of them are 12-16-year-old children in ado

In the children's ward of Peking University Sixth Hospital , the children are undergoing group treatment under the leadership of medical staff. The youngest children admitted here are only 4 years old, and the oldest is under 18 years old. Most of them are 12-16-year-old children in adolescence. Most of them suffer from severe mental disorders, such as depression , bipolar disorder , schizophrenia , etc. Children with severe illness often have serious difficulties in expressing and are unwilling to contact and communicate with the outside world. Therefore, creating a safe and comfortable environment for them, and guiding them to express their inner emotions and emotions in such an environment is very helpful for recovery. Li Lixia

At present, the most common mental disorders in adults - anxiety and depression have attracted more and more attention from people, but common mental disorders in children and adolescents, such as depression, need more knowledge from all walks of life. Unlike adults, many children and adolescent patients have not typical depression symptoms, so they are easily misunderstood or ignored by parents, which will cause greater harm to their children. "Children and teenagers often do not have the ability to accurately describe their emotions. For example, if you ask a child 'how's mood', he may only say 'discomfort', but he cannot explain exactly how 'discomfort', whether it is upset, depressed, or bored." Cao Qingjiu, director of the Department of Children's Department of Peking University Sixth Hospital, said in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network.

So, what are the symptoms of children and adolescents in the early stages of depression? How do parents and teachers find out that their children suffer from depression in a timely manner?

When parents find that their children have problems with school aversion or Internet "addiction", they should communicate with their children in time to understand their feelings. Once they find that their children have emotional problems, they should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Visual China Photo provided by

Children should be alert to these two signals when they appear

Cao Qingjiu told China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter that he found in clinical practice that children with early depression have two most common manifestations: one is disgusted with learning and decreased academic performance; the other is Internet "addiction".

Cao Qingjiu explained that school aversion is the most common manifestation of children in the early stage of depression and is also the reason why many parents take their children to medical treatment. Depression will make children unable to concentrate, lack motivation to learn, and reduce their energy level, causing children to reduce their learning efficiency, be unwilling to go to school, or even skip school, which will lead to a decline in their academic performance.

"Internet 'addiction' is also a common early manifestation of depression in outpatient clinics." Cao Qingjiu explained that children will increase their dependence on the Internet after suffering from depression, because depression will make people feel lacking in pleasure and cannot be energetic about anything. Learning is a hard thing and requires a lot of effort. Children suffering from depression will feel that learning is particularly difficult and painful, so they will want to do some relaxed things and gain some happiness from it. Online games may give children immediate pleasure through the midbrain dopamine reward system, but at the same time it also causes children to use the Internet excessively, and excessive use of the Internet will aggravate the child's depression and enter a vicious cycle. In fact, many children are not really "Internet addiction". Using the Internet or electronic products is just a way for them to pass the time and reduce pain. When the depression is relieved, the use of the Internet and electronic products can be quickly reduced.

However, in reality, many parents often misunderstand their children's performance, believing that their children are unwilling to go to school because they are lazy and afraid of difficulties, and think that their children are disgusted with learning because they play with mobile phones, which leads to emotional problems. Cao Qingjiu said that many parents often not only cannot understand their children, but even criticize their children. When they see that their children cannot put down their mobile phones, they will forcefully confiscate their mobile phones, but in fact this practice will make the children even more painful. Not allowing children to play with their mobile phones is equivalent to depriving them of the few sources of happiness. Many children will feel desperate about this and even cause extreme consequences of unfortunateness. Therefore, when parents find that their children have problems with school aversion or Internet "addiction", they should communicate with their children in a timely manner to understand their children's feelings. Once they find that their children have emotional problems, they should seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

Different symptoms of children and adolescents

Compared with adults, the depression in children and adolescents is also more hidden. Depression in children is often manifested as physical symptoms, and the onset of teenagers is easily misunderstood by parents as willfulness and rebellion in adolescence, which is also the reason why depression in children and adolescents is difficult to identify. So what are the specific symptoms of depression in children and adolescents?

Cao Qingjiu concluded that the symptoms of depression in children and adolescents can be divided into three aspects: one is emotional and emotional symptoms, the second is behavioral symptoms, and the third is physical symptoms.

Children with depression will show depression and listlessness. Children who are originally very sunny may become reluctant to go out all day long, cannot be interested in anything they do, and no longer like what they originally like.

In terms of behavior, children who were originally very gentle may become angry and fight against their parents, "like a different person." Some children not only quarrel with their parents, but may also do things; some children will deal with their negative emotions by smoking and drinking; some children vent their irritability by fighting with classmates; school aversion and skipping school are also manifestations of children's behavioral symptoms. If a child suffering from depression happens to be in adolescence, his behavioral symptoms will be more prominent.

In addition, children suffering from depression often have unexplained physical symptoms, such as headache, stomachache, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, fever, etc., but they go to the hospital but have no problems. Physical symptoms often occur regularly when stressed, such as stomachache when you arrive at school, and the pain will disappear after you go home. Therefore, many parents think that their children are pretending to be sick. When they see that their children are in a bad mood, they think that their children are too pretentious, and many children are criticized or beaten by their parents for this. In fact, parents' misunderstandings are very harmful to their children. They not only make the children feel more stressed and worsen the condition, but also make the children feel that parents only care about their grades and do not care about themselves, leading to a bad parent-child relationship.

Cao Qingjiu pointed out that when similar situations occur, parents should communicate and communicate with their children, and should not have too many subjective judgments about their children. For example, when they see their children's grades decline, do not immediately accuse the children of not working hard, but ask their children what difficulties they have.

In addition, parents should learn to listen and pay attention to their children's inner feelings, rather than just observing their children's external behavior. Some parents complain that their children are unwilling to say anything to themselves. In fact, their children are unwilling to share their inner feelings with their parents. Many times, they feel that their parents cannot understand them, and it is useless to say them. Sometimes they not only do not receive support, but also get scolding.

Risk factors for depression in children and adolescents

Cao Qingjiu introduced that there are two major categories of depression in children and adolescents. One is genetic factors and the other is social and psychological factors, which include family factors and school factors.

Family factors account for a large proportion of the risk factors for depression in children and adolescents. Discord family atmosphere, divorce of parents, excessive parenting of children, and frequent beatings and scolding of children by parents are all risk factors for children to suffer from depression.

School factors are also an important reason for the onset of depression in children and adolescents. If the teacher only values ​​academic performance, the child will be criticized for his poor grades; or if he has a bad relationship with his classmates and is bullied or bullied by his classmates, it is easy for the child to have emotional problems.

For parents, establishing a harmonious family, reducing conflicts between family members, reasonably demanding children based on their abilities, and having appropriate communication with them are all conducive to reducing children's risk of depression.

In school, teachers should not only judge children’s quality by their grades, but also care and encourage children with poor grades. At the same time, they should pay attention to coordinating the relationship between classmates in the class to avoid bullying.

Cao Qingjiu specifically pointed out that children who cannot handle the relationship between classmates may have certain social disorders or lack interpersonal skills. They don’t know how to get along with others, so they are easily isolated or even bullied by other classmates, and are not liked by teachers.Teachers should pay more attention, understand and help these children.

Cao Qingjiu believes that schools and hospitals should carry out more cooperation, such as medical staff going to school to conduct popular science publicity, so that teachers can promptly detect children at risk of depression. In addition, communication and exchanges between schools, hospitals and families should be deepened to identify and intervene children with emotional problems as soon as possible.

China Youth Daily·China Youth Network reporter Xia Jin Source: China Youth Daily

Editor: Jiang Lei, Qi Zheng, Zou Yanjuan

Source: China Youth Daily