If the predominant mood symptom is irritability, an angry, sullen expression seems permanently fixed on the child's face. Self-esteem plummets and the child feels guilty, inadequate, and unloved. A previously agreeable child might become increasingly uncooperative and defiant, refusing to abide by rules at home or in school. When this happens, parents often attribute the difficult behavior to willfulness and resort to disciplinary tactics, while the child's underlying problems go undiagnosed and untreated. Problems that might otherwise be corrected with treatment may escalate out of control.
Depression is a common problem.
For a condition whose existence was not even recognized until quite recently, the statistics now emerging about childhood depression are somewhat alarming. Studies suggest that, during a year's time, eight to nine percent of children between the ages of ten and thirteen suffer from an episode of depression. As startling as these figures are, it is likely that they reflect only the tip of the iceberg, since the incidence of depression in young people appears to be on the rise in our society. Depression has many causes. After years of neglect, childhood depression has become the subject of considerable research efforts.