Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Opinion: Recognising signs of depression and anxiety in kids is essential for parents

Image: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock
Image: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

When a child struggles with their emotional or mental health, it can be extremely worrying and difficult for parents to know how best they can help.

Knowing how to talk to children about their mental health and recognising the signs that they might be struggling can be really hard.

Signs of depression or anxiety in children can sometimes look like stereotypical behaviour, particularly in teenagers who can often keep their feelings to themselves.

It’s also natural for children and young people to feel stressed or anxious about things such as exams or moving to a new school. But, while these experiences can be very challenging, they are different from longer term depression or anxiety, which affect how a child or young person feels on a day-to-day basis.

How to spot depression and anxiety in children

Signs of depression include a persistent low mood or lack of motivation; not enjoying the things they usually like doing; becoming withdrawn from friends and family; experiencing low self-esteem; regularly feeling upset; and changes in eating and sleeping habits.

“For parents, realising that their child may be struggling with their mental health can be extremely difficult. Sometimes parents can feel like it’s their fault or want to know immediately why this is happening

The signs of anxiety sometimes go hand in hand with those of depression, such as feeling tearful and trouble sleeping, but there are some other signs parents should try to look out for, too. These include suffering panic attacks and feeling nervous or “on edge” a lot of the time.

While not every child with depression or anxiety will feel suicidal, sometimes mental health problems can feel overwhelming. If a young person talks about wanting to hurt themselves or expresses suicidal feelings, they should always be taken seriously.

Be patient and stay calm

For parents, realising that their child may be struggling with their mental health can be extremely difficult. Sometimes parents can feel like it’s their fault or want to know immediately why this is happening. This is completely understandable, but the most important things parents can do is reassure their child, be patient, stay calm and let them know they are there for them.

Parents can also encourage kids to talk to their GP, someone at school or one of our Childline counsellors, especially if they are finding it hard to talk at home.

Childline has delivered an average of around 17,000 counselling sessions a month to children across the UK since March 2020, and continues to be there for every child, whatever the problem or danger they are facing.

Adults concerned about the welfare of a child, can call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or visit nspcc.org.uk.

Children and young people can contact one of our Childline counsellors on 0800 1111 or visit childline.org.uk, where they can also speak to other young people who might be feeling the same way via moderated message boards.


Adeniyi Alade is head of Childline for NSPCC Scotland

Read more:

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.