Difficult to conceive but a baby can also be depressed.
In children, and especially preschoolers, depression can take on a very variable symptomatology, ranging from appetite disturbances to complete apathy. Knowing how to spot them allows care, including for newborns.
How to spot depression in infants?
If it is sometimes difficult to conceive, babies, from birth, feel emotions and know how to express them. If some babies are born without vital momentum, are very passive, and sleep even more than other children of their age, it is most often the refusal to eat that should alert.
At this age, depression can have very rapid consequences with development and communication delays that are difficult for parents to live with but which must be taken into account without delay.
Why is an infant depressed?
In most cases, the infant or preschool child is depressed following an event such as bereavement, abandonment or even hospitalization for a health problem. Most often, the change in behavior and the break in the growth curve make it possible to identify the suffering.
To help a baby who is depressed, there are therapies adapted to this age which can be put in place by child psychiatrists and child psychologists, with the concomitant care of the pediatrician.
Find out more: “Help your child overcome sadness and depression” by Sara Hamil.
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