6 Things to Know About Child Depression

It's more common than you think

Depression isn't normally an illness that we associate with kids, but it should be, says Robert L. Hendren, D.O., past president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). The AACAP estimates that as many as one in 20 children and adolescents is depressed. "Another way to think about it is that, on average, at least one child in every classroom will have it," says David Fassler.

Depression can run in the family

Studies show that 25 percent of kids who have a parent who has suffered from clinical depression will experience their own episode, says Dr. Fassler. If both Mom and Dad are depressed, the risk increases to around 75 percent. Scientists aren't exactly sure of the reason for this, but one theory posits that these kids have a genetic vulnerability, which is then exacerbated by a stressful environment.

It's often masked or mimicked by other problems

 "Approximately forty percent of children and adolescents with depression also have an anxiety disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and about one in four has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)," says Dr. Fassler. Learning disorders are also common. Experts don't know quite how these relate to each other, but they do know that when there are coexisting conditions, it can be harder to suss out and treat each one.

Irritability can be a major clue

The biggest difference between symptoms of adults and those of children is that while adults are usually sad and withdrawn, children are easily aggravated and may have irrational outbursts, says Dr. Hendren. "Children might not recognize that they are feeling depressed," he says. "Often, they don't know how to identify this feeling and put it into words."

Kate Coyne*, a mom from South Portland, ME, initially took her daughter, Emma*, then 8, to a psychologist after a teacher said she'd been "uncharacteristically irritable" at school. "I was shocked when the psychologist said she was depressed," says Coyne. "Since Emma wasn't withdrawing or sleeping all the time -- symptoms that might have jumped out at me -- it never entered my head."

4 interesting facts about raising twins

You will likely give birth early
With so many mamas having twins these days, it would seem like a twin pregnancy is no big deal. But carrying two instead of one is a very big deal, indeed. Women expecting twins are at higher risk for preeclampsia,gestational diabetes, andpremature birth. In fact, about 60 percent of twins are born prematurely, according to the March of Dimes, with the average twin pregnancy lasting 35 weeks.

Twin moms are more susceptible to the baby blues
It’s hard to bring one newborn home, let alone two. Juggling the feeding and sleeping demands of a pair can be exhausting, and parents of twins get less sleep than parents of singletons, at least for the first few months until the babies get on a more synchronized schedule. Exhaustion can make everything more challenging. If you’re breastfeeding, you’re likely either nursing or pumping around the clock to keep up with your wee ones’ demands.

But it gets easier later
Now, the good news: Raising twins will not be this difficult forever. With twins, the hard work is front-loaded in the first three years or so. Later on, your same-age siblings will be able to entertain each other. Plus, you can put them in the same schools, camps, and extracurricular activities without having to shuttle between programs suited for different ages. Also, they’ll likely be interested in the same shows and movies, eliminating fights over the remote, and you’ll have one bedtime instead of two.

Your fraternal twins might really be identical
A recent study out of University College London found that 15 percent of parents were mistakenly told that their identical twins were fraternal. Why the confusion? Most identical twins share one amniotic sac and one placenta, but 25 to 30 percent actually have two separate placentas and amniotic sacs. However, not all doctors are aware of that fact: 81 percent of doctors think that twins who don’t share a placenta are fraternal.