More Info About Children and Depression

It is unusual for children to suffer from depression after the loss of a loved one or a traumatic emotional event. Children who have been abused or constantly criticized can also develop chronic depression at an early age.

Unfortunately depression in children is not often seen for what it really is. The feelings of fatigue that go with it can be perceived as laziness. The lack of motivation is often perceived as stupidity or stubbornness. Children also either overeat or undereat just like adults when they are depressed and they develop a dislike of socializing and exercise.

If not treated depression can lead to failing grades, violence, alcohol, drug use and obesity. Here are some ways to detect the symptoms of depression in your child.

A child with depression –

· Refuses to wear clothes that do not cover all of the body

· May insist on wearing the same thing every day

· Covers his or her eyes with hair

· Refuses to look anyone in the eye

· Is possessive of toys and food

· Is easily agitated and irritated

· Prefers to watch videogames or watch television all day

· Falls asleep at school

· Has difficulty falling asleep at night

· Wakes at five am in the morning and is sleep deprived all day

· Has difficulty making decisions

· Loses interest in favorite toys or activities

· Feels guilty even if she or she has done nothing wrong

· Complains of vague physical complaints like headaches and stomach aches

· Lack of enthusiasm in general

· Talks obsessively about death or suicide

The sad fact is that as many as one in every three children and one in eight adolescents living in the United States might have depression. Thesis according to a health study done in 1996 and the number of depressed children and adolescents has probably risen since the specter of terrorism was unleashed as the result of 9-11.

Children that are most likely to experience depression are those who have experienced the loss of a pet or loved one (such as a parent or a sibling and those who already are experiencing some kind of disability or learning disorder such as Asperger's syndrome, dyslexia or Attention Deficit Disorder.

Some other facts about children and depression are:

Teenage girls are more likely than teenage boys to develop depression (according to the National Institute of Mental Health.)

Children who have parents with the disorder are more likely to develop some form of depression (National Institute of Mental Health)

Four out of five runaway/homeless street youth suffer from depression (according to the U.S. Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families)

The consequences of depression in childhood can be very severe. For one thing it is a precursor for all sorts of personality disorders and serious depression in adult hood. It also indicates that the child is at increase risk for such problems as addiction, alcoholism, manic depression and suicide. This is one of the reasons why it is so important for parents, teachers and guardians to detect depression in children early before it becomes a chronic and self-sabotaging chronic condition that last throughout the victim's entire life.

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Feng Shui For Kid’s Rooms

Lately I have been interested in the art of Feng Shui. This is the fine art of furniture placement and according to Asian lore it can help affect the health of your children.

Your children can benefit from Feng Shui as well. There are no special Feng Shui workshops for this type of thing, so here are some Feng Shui secrets for keeping them happy, healthy and in a state of general, overall positivity.

More than any other rooms in the home the children's bedrooms and playrooms need to be clean, safe, secure, well-lit and well-organized. This brings in the good chi. Don't let any dirt lurk in corners or under the bed as it is not good for the child's health or psychological state. Also when organizing stay away from sharp pointy metal mesh storage units as they bring harsh and forbidding energy into the room.

In the children's playroom or bedroom try to only have furniture that is rounded at the corners. Round tables are best. Fortunately a lot of children's furniture is already sold this way so finding it is not the issue. The reason this is good Feng Shui is because hard corners and edges symbolize Shar Chi which is 'sharp, cutting energy.' For the same reason you should remeove all sharp, cutting objects like scissor or carts with pointy edges to keep your children feeling secure.

If you want your children to do well in school consider hanging wind chimes near their desk. Metal wind chimes help clear bad energy Make sure too that the desk is made of wood or plastic and not glass as this symbolizes harmful shar chi for children as well. The main thing about feng shui living is that it should never encourage the harsh bad energy known as 'poison arrows.'

The worst color to paint a child's room is white because it is a color that symbolizes death in Asian countries. It is also not that practical as it gets dirty easy. The best colors for a child's room are reds, greens, blues and yellow. Orange is also recommended as it is a very happy color.

To make sure that your child always feels safe and guided by your presence even if you are not there then be sure to place a picture of yourself near the door, by the child's bed or on the East wall. Placing pictures of other family members such as Grandpa and Grandma on the East Wall is also a good idea.

If your child is a baby consider getting them a rotating glass lamp or one of those Fisher Price Aquariums that rotates different colored light on the wall. This is recommended because the Feng Shui superstition is that whirling or rotating lights can keep bad spirits away and also dispel negative chi in a room. Yet another purpose of this is to keep the child entertained and mesmerized so that he or she can fall asleep. You don't need a number of feng shui consultations to tell you why this works so well. In fact the Fisher Price Aquarium is such an excellent creator of positive Chi many adults have wished they could have one for their own room!

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