THE number of children suffering from depression has been climbing in Shenzhen. Experts warned that parents should be aware of the seriousness of childhood depression as an illness, and they should help their children face the problem instead of avoiding it, according to Southcn.com.

    A resident, surnamed Huang, brought her 8-year-old daughter, identified as Duoduo, to the Shenzhen Children’s Hospital for mental treatment in July. Huang said that Duoduo had been in bad shape since she and her ex-husband divorced. The school teacher told Huang that Duoduo was always absent-minded in class, and had been avoiding answering questions in class or playing with her classmates after school.

    Huang said although Duoduo hasn’t tried to harm herself, she would sometimes ask Huang to kill her.

    Duoduo was diagnosed with depression after a mental checkup. Along with medication, the doctor offered psychotherapy to both Huang and Duoduo.

    According to doctors with the children’s psychiatric department at Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, they receive an average of eight new cases of teenagers suffering from depression each month, and the number is showing an upward trend.

    Zhang Meiyan, a doctor with the psychological department at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, said that the occurrence rate of depression in children isn’t low, and many children are getting depressed at a younger age.

    The signs and symptoms of depression in children include irritability or anger, continuous feelings of sadness and hopelessness, social withdrawal, changes in appetite and sleep, vocal outbursts or crying, difficulty in concentrating, fatigue and low energy, physical complaints and thoughts of death or suicide, according to WebMD.

    Most kids with significant depression suffer a noticeable change in social activity, loss of interest in school and poor academic performance.

    Depression in children can be caused by factors related to physical health, life events, family history, environment and genetic vulnerability. Children with a family history of depression, or chaotic or conflicted families, are at greater risk of experiencing depression, according to the report.

    If the symptoms of depression in a child last for two weeks, parents should schedule a visit with a doctor to make sure that the child receives proper treatment, Zhang said.

    (Zhang Yang)