Physical Illness
Depression is often associated with some physical illnesses and disabilities. Children often have chronic physical sicknesses that are very difficult for them to endure. It is painful enough to be ill, so you can imagine why depression is related to some illnesses. In making an accurate diagnosis of depression, don't forget to mention to a professional any condition that your child has or has had. You never know exactly how an illness has affected your child emotionally.
Medical Conditions
The following are some of the illnesses that depression might coexist with:
Vitamin B
12 deficiencyMononucleosis
Postconcussion
syndrome Anemia
Asthma
Epilepsy
Chronic
allergies
Diabetes
Cancer
The list of illnesses that might cause depression could go on and on. The point here is to think about the whole child. A diagnosis of depression has to be made by considering all of the factors that might have affected your child in one way or the other.
Physical Disabilities
How do I know my child's illness hasn't caused her depression?
You can't always tell. Even if you think your daughter's recent or chronic sickness is no big deal, you should always mention it to the professional working with your child. It just might be the key to getting at the perfect diagnosis.
When a child has a physical disability, she is more likely to become depressed unless she has a healthy set of coping skills at her disposal. A wheelchair-bound child, or one with a visible deformity, is singled out and attention, a lot of it unwanted, is drawn to her. Other children can be cruel, and the world is not always kind to people who are different.
If a child does not know how to handle her special set of circumstances, then she is apt to suffer a loss of self-esteem and a self-image is created where she believes she is unloved, that she is a burden, and that she is even more different from others than she believed in the first place.
Another way her disability may set your child up for depression is due to a loss of experiences. If your child's problem limits her ability to move, walk, see, or hear, she is missing out on many of life's teachable moments and joys. As she realizes that she cannot do what others can, she may become depressed. This is especially true of children who are not born with a disability but have something happen to them that drastically changes the way they live their lives.
