Can children get depression? | Could your child be suffering from depression?

Many famous celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, or Honey Singh have experienced depression. But it was surprising when star kids like Suhana Khan, Shaheen Bhatt, and Ira Khan also faced depression at quite a young age.

So can children also experience depression?

Actually, it's quite normal for children to sometimes be quiet, get angry over small things, yell, become irritated, and then after a while, your child starts playing again.

But sometimes children start staying quiet more often, or this irritability becomes more noticeable. And when these symptoms persist for more than a week, your child may not be okay and could be experiencing depression.

According to research, about 3% of children and 8% of teenagers experience depression.

There can be many reasons for depression in children, such as: Family history or genetic history, meaning if someone in the family, especially parents, has a history of depression, stressful events like the death of a loved one, parents' divorce, or a physical injury or illness, or being bullied by other children at school. All these things can be reasons for your child to develop depression.

Now the question arises, how to know if your child has depression:

If a child has depression, these symptoms will be visible:

1. Your child may seem sadder or more irritated than before, meaning their mood is changing.
2. They lose interest in activities they used to enjoy.
3. Energy levels decrease significantly, or they feel very tired.
4. Your child starts talking negatively, like "I'm not good," "I don't have any friends," or "I'm not good at studying."
5. Your child starts eating much less or much more than usual.
6. Your child is sleeping too much or not sleeping enough.

source;  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8465814/

                https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3788699/