Depression can even affect infants. It then usually appears in the second six months of life and affects children who are deprived of the satisfaction of their physical and emotional needs - especially those who are in foster care, abandoned, hospitalised for long periods of time. In such children, we usually see a gradual increase in negative symptoms from crying and strongly showing their needs to a state similar to lethargy (when crying and screaming turn into whimpering and the image of a face as if cast in wax becomes fixed).

Another important period in which depression can emerge in children is the latency and adolescence period (12-17 years of age). As a result of many changes (biological and personality), it is usually easier than at other times for depressive states to emerge.

The reasons for the onset of depression are not fully known, but are probably determined by a number of factors: genetic, biological, neuromechanical, psychological and social . Psychologists claim that it most often appears as a result of an unworked loss, when the grief has not been dealt with in time. However, it is not the loss itself that leads to depression, but the fact that, having experienced it, it has not been possible to bridge the gap created.

Children become depressed after the loss of parents, siblings, a beloved pet, but also after a break-up with a boyfriend, a friend or a change of residence. Certainly (especially in younger children) the family situation has a huge impact on the development of depression. Children whose emotional needs are not met are more likely to become depressed. It is also easier for a child to become depressed if the parents are constantly overworked and complaining, so that they can blame themselves for various problems in the family.

So what to do if you suspect that your child is suffering from depression:

• sit down quietly with your child, spend more time than usual with him/her, observe, talk, ask if he/she is worried about anything,
• if you suspect that the child is blaming himself for a situation for which he should not (e.g. relating to the relationship between the parents), convince him that he is not responsible and try to relieve him of the resulting feeling of guilt,
• do not shout at the child because he/she finds it difficult to motivate him/herself to do homework or because he/she behaves as if he/she is not listening to what is being said,
• go to a psychologist and then to a psychiatrist (however, if you yourself notice that the condition is serious, it is best to go to a psychiatrist straight away - in this case a pharmacological treatment is first necessary in order to be able to start psychotherapy),
• do not underestimate the condition, bearing in mind that some depression (also in children) leads to suicide, which is one of the three most common causes of death among minors (World Health Organisation, Geneva 2003).