Depression in school-children

Once, the childhood used to be without worry… Or at least we thought so.

Many of us have fond memories of ‘that golden era’ when every morning we had a clean canvas to color it afresh. We did not remember the scolding that was part and parcel of what they call growing up.  

And peer pressure, where was thou?

Yes, we had ups and downs like all of our near and dears. We wept, we fought… and oh, we cried alone at times. Yet, all those were just bad moments… that we were able to overcome. After all we had games to play, friends to share, and family to care.

It still happens with children. They tend to forget the reprimands. They do mistakes again and again. And they enjoy like we grown up once had …

Yet, the stress has entered into their psyche…

Yes, the depressed child has arrived and is here to stay for long.

Competition, over-ambitious parents, peer pressure, lack of emotional support, and maybe media-explosion that provides over-exposure to the already burdened child -  these and many more such factors are responsible.

Or is it called Growth…From collective to more individualistic society… where pressure on the individual to perform better starts at an early age...

Are our schools equipped to handle it?

The suicides by school-going children, which were once almost non-existent, have started making headlines.    

Suicide is the extreme step, but what about the common depression that is so rampant nowadays. Has our schools ever tried to gauge its intensity and to find a remedy…?  

Perhaps a few educational institutions have the time or energy to think in this direction, except some big and branded ones. They also sometimes do it just for formality sake, by having a part-time counselor who is mainly focused on advising about the career avenues. The emotional support takes a backseat most of the time.    

So, what will happen to the depressed child?

Will she be able to flourish and contribute as per her capability? Or will she become a liability? Or worse, will she try to end her life in a weak moment, if there is no channel to release the tension… Such is an extreme scenario but sometimes it happens making a news headline.

What can we do? - This may be the standard response.

But, do we know if any depressed child lives in our home?

Do we try to check? Do we have the patience to at least listen to him or her?