From the author: source Depression in children: how to recognize? Lately I often come across complaints from parents that the child has become lethargic, whiny, refuses to play, watches cartoons all the time, does not want to do anything , complains of pain in the stomach, then of headaches; does not want to go to school or kindergarten. Parents say that the child has become uncontrollable, irritable, hot-tempered even over the most “trifling of reasons”, “he’s just making fun of me.” So what is actually happening to the child? Masks of childhood depression One of the reasons for this behavior is depressive disorders. In children they occur completely differently than in adults. They rarely have the classic depressive triad: low mood, ideational and motor retardation. More often, depression in children is masked by such symptoms as behavioral disorders, hyperactivity, enuresis, school failure, somatic disorders (bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, chronic constipation, etc.). In school-age children, hidden depression sometimes takes the form of disobedience, laziness, schoolchildren do not keep up with their studies, run away from home, and enter into conflicts for any reason. One of the masks of childhood depression is school maladjustment. As a rule, it increases gradually, manifesting itself in difficulties in comprehending and remembering educational material. Children spend more and more time preparing homework and do not understand what they read. Many times, having recited the text at home, the next day they cannot remember it at the blackboard, cannot solve the simplest problems, and confuse the counting. They begin to cry, lamenting that all their efforts are in vain, that “there will still be a deuce.” They become extremely absent-minded, forget their notebooks and textbooks at home, and complain about memory loss: “I’ve become completely stupid,” “I don’t know how to study,” “I’m trying to understand and I don’t understand.” They believe that teachers dislike them for their stupidity, their peers despise them, try to offend them, laugh at their poor performance, that they are uninteresting, unpleasant, and even parents give preference to other children in the family. Somatic mask Children complain of headaches, dizziness, abdominal pain, scattered body pain, unreasonable increase in temperature, disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract (frequent constipation, encopresis, enuresis, vomiting), which are accompanied by decreased mood, sleep disturbances in the form of difficulties falling asleep, frequent awakenings. With these masks, children are observed by various specialists, undergo many tests that do not reveal any pathology, and receive a mountain of medications. But the condition remains without improvement. Mask of a bully Depression can manifest itself in behavioral disorders in children and adolescents. Rudeness, insolence, malice, aggressiveness, oppositionality, excitability, and hysteria appear, which are combined with refusal to study, fights, vagrancy, illegal acts, and dependent behavior. This behavior is defensive in nature, and is caused by the teenager’s unconscious desire to ease his state of mind and relieve tension. Including by taking psychostimulants that elevate mood and reduce anxiety. Teenagers with psychopathic-like depression can get into an antisocial company, start smoking, drinking, trying drugs, although this does not bring them true satisfaction. And it is very important to separate behavioral disorders associated with depressive disorders and emerging personality disorder. Pierrot mask (tearful mask) Children become whiny, capricious, often complain of lethargy, drowsiness, fatigue, they say that they have no strength, they don’t want to do anything, the body has become heavy, “it seems like there are heavy boots on their feet,” “ the hands are leaden, heavy,” while the child’s facial expression becomes inexpressive, with the corners of the mouth downturned, and blue circles appear under the eyes. Such a mask is mistaken for a serious kidney or blood disease, but often tests do not reveal pathologies of the kidneys and blood, and the child remains the same