Depression In Preschoolers , Symptoms Of Childhood Depression

Q: I am not sure how depression could be diagnosed in infants, but this is an article from medscape on what is seen in preschoolers. I don't see any information on preschoolers actually committing suicide, but they mention suicidal ideation.

A:At the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Helen L. Egger, M.D., from Duke University Medical Center presented information on depression in preschoolers to a rapt audience. "This is an age group that has been neglected for some time," said Egger, "yet we are increasingly seeing preschoolers in our practices and we need to find ways to help them and their families." In the 1960s and 70s, there was a great deal of skepticism that children could experience depression. Then in the 1980's, evidence emerged showing that DSM-defined depression could be identified in children as young as six years old. Childhood depression, according to Egger, can be a chronic and relapsing illness with significant morbidity. "The resistance to identifying psychiatric disorders in young children comes from fears about the negative impact of labeling and the lack of empirical data,"

says Egger. "Denial that young children experience psychic pain is still common and analogous to past beliefs about infants and physical pain." A number of clinical and community studies have assessed depressive symptoms in preschool children, says Egger, and yet very few studies have examined the presentation of depressive disorders in very young children. "Our understanding of preschool psychopathology is similar to our understanding of psychiatric disorders in older children circa 1970," she adds. "It is painful for us to acknowledge that very young children suffer psychic pain; we want to hold onto the idea that at least that part of childhood is free of it."