Depression in Children and Adolescents
Episode Description
Did you know that depression occurs in about 15% of children? In this episode of Mind Your Mind, our host Tim Unsinn talks with Psychiatrist Dr. Wayne Martinsen about depression in kids and adolescents, including signs of depression to look out for and how to know when to reach out to a care provider. They also touch on how to know whether your child’s sadness is caused by depression or other external factors and what you can do to try and prevent depression in your child.What to Expect
- Signs of depression in children versus adolescents
- How to help a child with depression
Resources: Learn More
- “How to Help Your Child With Depression,” by Lucas Mitzel, LCSW
- “Childhood Depression: What Parents Need to Know,” kidshealth.org
Things to Think About
- Talking with your child about suicide will not make them more likely to attempt it.
- Individual or family therapy can be helpful for children suffering from depression.
About the Guest
Dr. Martinsen enjoys working with a wide range of ages and diagnoses. His practice is largely focused on complex clients with multiple health challenges. He diagnoses psychiatric and behavioral health conditions, makes recommendations for treatment, and prescribes/manages medications for clients of all ages. Much of his work focuses on maximizing health, treating illness, and promoting healthy longevity through lifestyle medicine.
Transcript
Depression in Children and Adolescents
Featuring Dr. Wayne Martinsen, Psychiatrist, Dakota Family Services
Tim Unsinn:
Welcome to Mind Your Mind, a podcast presented by Dakota Family Services, an outpatient Behavioral health Clinic, located in Minot, Bismarck, and Fargo, North Dakota. In this podcast, I will talk with our experts about understanding and nurturing our mental health and wellness. I'm your host, Tim Unsinn. Join me each episode as we explore the intricacies of our minds, decrease the stigma of mental illness, learn practical tips for managing our mental health and wellbeing, and recognize when it's time to ask for help. Join me now to mind your mind. Welcome to this episode of Mind Your Mind. I'll be talking with Dr. Wayne Martinsen. Dr. Martinsen is the medical director and psychiatrist in Fargo and Minot. Dr. Martinsen diagnoses psychiatric and behavioral health conditions, makes treatment recommendations, and provides medication management for clients of all ages. It's always great to have you on mind your mind, and our topic today is depression in children and adolescents. However, before we get to the topic, I always ask that first question, and that is, why do you do what you do?
Wayne Martinsen:
Mostly because I really like working with people. I've worked with people now over 40 years, even before I went to medical school as a therapist and a social worker. And I just love the response. I love the connection. I like the agency and the people I work with
Tim Unsinn:
Think it's all about helping people. It comes through loud and clear. Our topic now is depression in children and adolescents. How common is depression in children?
Wayne Martinsen:
It happens in about 15% of children. It's been much higher since the pandemic, Tim.
Tim Unsinn:
That seems like the pandemic has done a lot to everybody's mental health, if you will. So now how serious is depression in kids?
Wayne Martinsen:
Depression can run from relatively mild where somebody is, well, we used to call dystonic and just chronically it's harder for them to be happy, harder for them to enjoy things. Maybe they don't go out or play as much. They're not as active, they're not as engaged with their peers all the way to suicidal children, as well as adolescents can become suicidal. And although children oftentimes won't act on that, adolescents will, children will, however, think about wishing that they were dead when they become depressed.
Tim Unsinn:
Now, as we talk about depression in kids, now as a parent, I'm looking at my child. Maybe kids don't know they're depressed. How do I, as a parent, how can I identify, or what are, what are some of the things I need to look for as a parent?
Wayne Martinsen:
It's a good point because children don't walk around and say to their parents, I'm depressed. In fact, depression tends to come on quite slowly and they feel more miserable inside. What parents often see is a child who's just more irritable, more owly, their sleep tends to be worse. They have difficulty especially falling asleep. They have, they're more antagonistic about doing homework or other chores. They may actually have more temper tantrums. They're less likely to want to play with children. They're less likely to want to do active activities. They're also less likely to be happy. Now, a child with depression can be happy if it's a big enough event. So if they're going out on some special occasion, they're gonna be happy about that. But day-to-day, these are children who don't enjoy the same level of things that they once did. Their grades can also fall because attention and concentration tends to decrease. Tim, when children get depressed.
Tim Unsinn:
As a parent, I'm thinking about the different, the different things. Okay, so kids, as they change age, sometimes those things happen. So as a parent, when do I become concerned or reach out for help when my child is going through some of those changes? When do I think it could be depression or is it just an age thing? When do I reach out for help?
Wayne Martinsen:
Well, what you look at is diagnostically, you look for at least a two week period, and you'd wanna look for a two week period of changes in mood, behavior, sleep, where there isn't a really good explanation. So if somebody, they loved a grandparent had died, that gives you a reason that they would be down or negative. But if there's no clear reason and you see them consistently being different than they once had been, it'd be time to talk with them, to ask them the questions, asking them a question about what their mood is like, what they're feeling, how they, how they feel about their friends, is not going to put bad ideas into their head. Children as young as six or seven will talk about feeling like they wish they were dead sometimes, and asking them that question is not going to put the idea into their head if it's not already there.
Tim Unsinn:
Well, I think growing up, if my favorite three Stooges episode wasn't on, I felt like I should be dead. But that's not what we're really talking about. So as a parent, what are the treatment approaches used for kids?
Wayne Martinsen:
There's really quite a wide variety of treatment approaches, all the way from lifestyle changes. So just making sure that they get enough activity, making sure that they're eating a healthy diet, making sure that they're connecting with friends. Those things really matter, especially as we've gone through the pandemic recently where kids were really disconnected from the rhythms of their life, like going to school, connecting to their teacher, connecting to grandparents, connecting to peers. Therapy is probably the treatment of choice, especially for children in grade school age children. And it's as effective as medication and it works better for the children who are more verbal, who are more able to express their emotions and talk about things. There's also family therapy approaches where the therapist works with the family, with the parents to help the child experience life differently. But there are also medications. There are a number of medications that are FDA approved for depression down to age six or seven.
Tim Unsinn:
Alright. And as we talk about depression, we talk about the pandemic and different things, and it seems like there's not a new normal. There is a new normal, and it isn't what we used to be experienced, if you will. So as a parent, and you talked about this a little while ago, difference between kids and adolescents and those red flags, those things we should be looking for. Maybe in a child, a child, it's a little bit different. Adolescent may be more apt to act on what they're saying. So what are those red flags that we should look for?
Wayne Martinsen:
There you look for increased anger, problems with sleep, just a chronic owliness, hypersensitivity. Adolescents tend to be very sensitive to the things that their friends, their teacher, their parents says, but if they're not recovering from that, so they have a conflict with a peer, a conflict with somebody they're dating, and then days later they're still really withdrawn or they hold a grudge to parents or others that they didn't use to hold a grudge to. If they are making statements of hopelessness, those are all things that you would really want to look at. Basically a change that happens for at least two weeks over time from who they were before.
Tim Unsinn:
Our guest on Mind your Mind is Dr. Wayne Martinsen and Dr. Martinsen, as you've been talking about a lot of different things, the one thing that pops into my head during this whole conversation is, as a parent, am I listening? Am I paying attention to my child? Am I, am I looking for signs and things like that? Because, and I don't want to sound judgmental, but it seems like today we're busy. We're very, very busy, and I think it's really important as parents to really pay attention to what our kids are going through, especially considering the last three years.
Wayne Martinsen:
Absolutely. And when you look at who's more likely to get depressed, it's the children and families that are already stressed. So the the single parent family where the parent is stretched thin already, maybe has financial struggles, needs to work two different jobs, doesn't have the kind of connection or time that children need it's important to either carve that out or bring in others who can, like a grandparent and aunt and uncle, somebody that's trusted, a mentor to have that time with a child.
Tim Unsinn:
I think that's a great point too, if you are a brother, sister, aunt, uncle, a grandparent just paying attention to our family. You know? Absolutely. And be the person there that can help them. Awesome. Great stuff, great information. I always, always have to go back and dissect more of this information because you just give us a wealth of information. Dr. Martinsen, thank you for being on Mind Your Mind. Before we go though, I always have that final question. What do you do personally to mind your mind?
Wayne Martinsen:
What I have taken up lately is I have a have an upcoming talk with Pastor Rick Jones that I find invigorating. We're actually going to do a talk looking at spirituality and values and their impact on day-to-day life and happiness and trying to, trying to define this as spirituality that transcends our different religious perspectives.
Tim Unsinn:
Great stuff as always. It seems like when I ask you that question, it's always about learning. Always learning and growing. Thank you. Always appreciate you on Mind Your Mind. Thank you for sharing your time and your talent.
Wayne Martinsen:
Thank you Tim.
Tim Unsinn:
Thank you for joining us for Mind Your Mind, a podcast presented by Dakota Family Services. For more information, links to additional resources, contact information, and much more, go to Dakota family services.org.
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