Clinical depression might not be the first conclusion you’d draw when evaluating what may be affecting your child’s behavior—especially not in a young child of six or eight. For Sarah E. Ludwig, though, that’s what she discovered one of her children was dealing with, and it’s something she recognized because she’d dealt with it herself.
Ms. Ludwig wrote a revealing article for Parenting magazine about her experience with her daughter, including six things the average person might not know about childhood depression. One of these things we thought was worth sharing is that depression in children can be misidentified as ADHD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
In her article, Ms. Ludwig reports: “’Approximately forty percent of children and adolescents with depression also have an anxiety disorder, such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and about one in four has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),’ says Dr. (David) Fassler. Learning disorders are also common. Experts don’t know quite how these relate to each other, but they do know that when there are coexisting conditions, it can be harder to suss out and treat each one: Symptoms can overlap, making the conditions harder to identify, or medication may not be as effective. That’s why some mental health professionals suggest that every child diagnosed with depression be evaluated for the other disorders, and vice versa.”
If your child appeared to have broken a limb, wouldn’t you want an x-ray to confirm your suspicions and guide the course of treatment? Most parents would likely answer “yes” without hesitation. And if the x-ray showed that the bone wasn’t broken, but that something else was causing the child’s distress, the recommended course of treatment would change in response.
The same is true with mental health issues. If a child is presenting symptoms that appear to be ADHD, OCD, depression, etc., seeking a comprehensive evaluation from a mental health professional will help ensure that the child is receiving the proper treatment.
If you think you recognize a child in your life with these symptoms, we hope you’ll contact a mental health professional for guidance.