Being a parent of a child with physical, emotional, or behavioral problems can be exhausting. Try to take good care of your physical and emotional health. Doing so will help provide you with needed energy to care for your child with special needs.

Schedule time for yourself. Use a calendar or planner to set aside specific times for buying and cooking healthy foods, resting, visiting with friends, and doing other things you enjoy. Don’t be afraid to ask family members or friends for help. Take a break while your child uses community services (such as school programs, social skills training, job training, and counseling). Ask your doctor about other resources that can provide you with needed personal time.

Learn ways to handle the normal range of emotions, fears, and concerns that go along with raising a child with special needs. Seek information about your child’s condition so that you will know what to expect. Use exercise, positive self-talk, relaxation, deep breathing, and other techniques to help you handle stress. Learn how to recognize when you need to use them.

Find out whether there is a support group in your area for parents of children with the same condition. Local and national groups can help connect families and provide much-needed sources of information. It may help you to share your feelings with others or simply to find out how others have addressed common issues. It can be comforting to talk with other parents who also face the challenges and joys of raising a child with special needs.

Seek and accept support from others. Don’t wait for information and assistance to come to you. Consider using respite care, which is a family support service that provides a break for parents and siblings. Trained staff can relieve family members from caregiving duties as needed. These breaks can help families communicate in a less stressful context and allow parents to focus complete attention on their other children for a while.

Allow yourself time to grieve if needed. You may feel a sense of loss about the dreams you had for your child. As you work through your grief, you will be better able to care for yourself and your family. Talk with your doctor or another health professional if you think you or another family member may be depressed or having other emotional difficulties.

Be realistic. In raising any child, there are no guarantees for success. It is important to remember to do the best you can and to know that you can’t control everything.

Believe in yourself. When self-doubts creep into your thoughts, remember to focus on the many good things you do for yourself and your child. If you are having problems dealing with your feelings about your child’s condition, talk with your doctor about whether counseling may be helpful.

Work with family and friends. Your family and friends may have concerns about your child. To address those concerns, you can:

• Talk about how your child’s condition affects you. Be open and honest about your hopes and concerns. Encourage others to talk about their feelings.
• Encourage them to learn about your child’s condition.
• Ask your other children to help with the care of the affected child as much as they are able. Allow them to refuse to help if they do not want to.

For additional information, visit MagellanHealth.com/MYMH

This document is for your information only. It is not meant to give medical advice. It should not be used to replace a visit with a provider. Magellan Health does not endorse other resources that may be mentioned here.

Family members can play an important role in helping a loved one with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders get on the road to recovery. Support a loved one’s recovery by:

• Helping a loved one remember to take all prescribed medications for one or both disorders
• Listening to any concerns about medications – such as their purpose, benefits, and side effects – and helping address those concerns
• Making sure appointments with treatment providers are kept
• Working with the treatment team to stay informed and help address any issues related to medication

To learn more, visit Mind Your Mental Health.

Source: Behavioral Health Evolution

What is depression in children and teens?

Depression is a serious mood disorder that can take the joy from a child’s life. It is normal for a child to be moody or sad from time to time. You can expect these feelings after the death of a pet or a move to a new city. But if these feelings last for weeks or months, they may be a sign of depression.

Experts used to think that only adults could get depression. Now we know that even a young child can have depression that needs treatment to improve. As many as 2 out of 100 young children and 8 out of 100 teens have serious depression.

Still, many children don’t get the treatment they need. This is partly because it can be hard to tell the difference between depression and normal moodiness. Also, depression may not look the same in a child as in an adult.

If you are worried about your child, learn more about the symptoms in children. Talk to your child to see how he or she is feeling. If you think your child is depressed, talk to your doctor or a counselor. The sooner a child gets treatment, the sooner he or she will start to feel better.

What are the symptoms?

A child may be depressed if he or she:

• Is irritable, sad, withdrawn, or bored most of the time.
• Does not take pleasure in things he or she used to enjoy.

A child who is depressed may also:

• Lose or gain weight.
• Sleep too much or too little.
• Feel hopeless, worthless, or guilty.
• Have trouble concentrating, thinking, or making decisions.
• Think about death or suicide a lot.

The symptoms of depression are often overlooked at first. It can be hard to see that symptoms are all part of the same problem.

Also, the symptoms may be different depending on how old the child is.

• Both very young children and grade-school children may lack energy and become withdrawn. They may show little emotion, seem to feel hopeless, and have trouble sleeping. Often they will lose interest in friends and activities they liked before. They may complain of headaches or stomachaches. A child may be more anxious or clingy with caregivers.
• Teens may sleep a lot or move or speak more slowly than usual. Some teens and children with severe depression may see or hear things that aren’t there (hallucinate) or have false beliefs (delusions).

Depression can range from mild to severe. A child who feels a little “down” most of the time for a year or more may have a milder, ongoing form of depression called dysthymia (say “dis-THY-mee-uh”). In its most severe form, depression can cause a child to lose hope and want to die.

Whether depression is mild or severe, there are treatments that can help.

What causes depression?

Just what causes depression is not well understood. But it is linked to a problem with activity levels in certain parts of the brain as well as an imbalance of brain chemicals that affect mood. Things that may cause these problems include:

• Stressful events, such as changing schools, going through a divorce, or losing a close family member or friend.
• Some medicines, such as steroidsor opioids for pain relief.
• Family history. In some children, depression seems to be inherited.

How is depression diagnosed?

To diagnose depression, a doctor may do a physical exam and ask questions about your child’s past health. You and your child may be asked to fill out a form about your child’s symptoms. The doctor may ask your child questions to learn more about how he or she thinks, acts, and feels.

Some diseases can cause symptoms that look like depression. So the child may have tests to help rule out physical problems, such as a low thyroid level or anemia.

It is common for children with depression to have other problems too, such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or an eating disorder. The doctor may ask questions about these problems to help your child get the right diagnosis and treatment.

How is it treated?

Usually one of the first steps in treating depression is education for the child and his or her family. Teaching both the child and the family about depression can be a big help. It makes them less likely to blame themselves for the problem. Sometimes it can help other family members see that they are also depressed.

Counseling may help the child feel better. The type of counseling will depend on the age of the child. For young children, play therapy may be best. Older children and teens may benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy. This type of counseling can help them change negative thoughts that make them feel bad.

Medicine may be an option if the child is very depressed. Combining antidepressant medicine with counseling often works best. A child with severe depression may need to be treated in the hospital.

There are some things you can do at home to help your child start to feel better.

• Encourage your child to get regular exercise, spend time with supportive friends, eat healthy foods, and get enough sleep.
• See that your child takes any medicine as prescribed and goes to all follow-up appointments.
• Make time to talk and listen to your child. Ask how he or she is feeling. Express your love and support.
• Remind your child that things will get better in time.

What should you know about antidepressant medicines?

Antidepressant medicines often work well for children who are depressed. But there are some important things you should know about these medicines.

• Children who take antidepressants should be watched closely. These medicines may increase the risk that a child will think about or try suicide, especially in the first few weeks of use. If your child takes an antidepressant, learn the warning signs of suicide, and get help right away if you see any of them. Common warning signs include:
  • Talking, drawing, or writing about death.
  • Giving away belongings.
  • Withdrawing from family and friends.
  • Having a plan, such as a gun or pills.
• Your child may start to feel better after 1 to 3 weeks of taking antidepressant medicine. But it can take as many as 6 to 8 weeks to see more improvement. Make sure your child takes antidepressants as prescribed and keeps taking them so they have time to work.
• A child may need to try several different antidepressants to find one that works. If you notice any warning signs or have concerns about the medicine, or if you do not notice any improvement by 3 weeks, talk to your child’s doctor.
• Do not let a child suddenly stop taking antidepressants. This could be dangerous. Your doctor can help you taper off the dose slowly to prevent problems

Help is available. For additional information, visit MagellanHealth.com/MYMH

©Healthwise

A child’s mental health affects nearly every aspect of their overall health. Their physical health and their ability to become successful, contributing members of society depends on the state of mind they bring to every situation. Children’s mental health issues are real, common and treatable. An estimated 15 million of our nation’s young people can currently be diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Many more are at risk of developing a disorder due to genetic and environmental risk factors. However, it is estimated that only about 7 percent of youth who need services receive appropriate help from mental health professionals (Department of Health and Human Services, 2001 — Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental Health: A National Action Agenda).

1) What should I do if I am concerned about mental, behavioral, or emotional symptoms in my child? Keep in mind that every child is different. Even normal development, such as when children develop language, motor, and social skills, varies from child to child. If you are concerned about changes in behavior or other symptoms, talk to your child’s doctor or health care provider. If your child is in school ask the teacher about observed changes in behavior and see if the school system can provide an evaluation. Share this with your provider as well. Be prepared to seek further evaluation by a specialist with experience in child mental health issues. Specialists may include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, and behavioral therapists.

2) How do I know if my child’s problems are serious? Many everyday stressors can cause changes in a child’s behavior, however, not every problem is serious. For example, the birth of a sibling may cause a child to temporarily act much younger than he or she is. Behavior patterns that may indicate a more serious issue include:

• Problems across a variety of settings, such as at school, at home, or with peers
• Changes in appetite or sleep
• Social withdrawal, or fearful behavior toward things your child normally is not afraid of
• Returning to behaviors more common in younger children, such as bed-wetting, for a long time
• Signs of being upset, such as sadness or tearfulness
• Signs of self-destructive behavior, such as head-banging, or a tendency to get hurt often
• Repeated thoughts of death.

3) How are mental illnesses diagnosed in young children? Just like adults, children with mental illness are diagnosed after a doctor or mental health specialist carefully observes signs and symptoms. Some primary care physicians can diagnose a child themselves, but many will refer to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment.

• Before diagnosing a mental illness, the doctor or specialist tries to rule out other possible causes for a child’s behavior. The doctor will:
• Review the child’s medical history
• Discuss the issues you have observed
• Review the child’s developmental level
• Ask about any family history of mental health disorders
• Ask if the child has experienced physical or psychological traumas, such as a natural disaster, or situations that may cause stress, such as a death in the family
• Consider reports caretakers and/or teachers

Children are constantly changing and growing and diagnosis and treatment must be viewed with this in mind. While some problems are short-lived and don’t need treatment, others are ongoing and may be very serious. In either case, it is important to see more information so you can understand treatment options and make informed decisions.

3) What are the treatment options for children? The specialist will recommend specific treatment based on the diagnosis. Treatment options may include psychotherapy and/or medication. Talk about the options with the specialist and ask questions. Some treatment choices are a part of standard health care practice while others may be in the experimental stage.

4) Will my child get better with time? Some children get better with time and others children may need ongoing professional help, it all depends on the diagnosis. That is why it is important to consult with a health care providers as soon as possible because treatment may produce better results if started early.

5) How can families of children with mental illness get support? Like other serious illnesses, taking care of a child with mental illness is hard on the parents, family, and other caregivers. Support groups are available for many different types of issues and age groups. By sharing experiences in a safe and confidential setting encourages empathy and a sense of community.

Help is available. For additional information, visit MagellanHealth.com/MYMH

Sources: American Psychological Association, National Institute of Mental Health