The earlier asthma is identified and properly treated with drugs to control inflamation as well as environmental control to reduce exposure to dust mites, mold, pet dander, and especially cigarette smoke, the better the long term prognosis. Parents may tire of hearing about treating their childrens' asthma, but control of the inflammation is so crucial to long term outcome. In the June issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry , Dr. Myrna Weissman of Columbia University found in a ten year study that parental depression is associated with not only a higher incidence of childhood depression , but also an increased incidence of medical problems in their children. These findings are consistent with earlier studies that have linked parental depression with increased medical complaints and actual illnesses in their children. Parental depression is linked to childhood depression, whether the link is genetic or simply caused by the depressing nature of life with a depressed loved one.
Depression is known to lower our resistance to physical ailments.
This means that the parent who is depressed needs to seek help or be led to help by concerned family and friends, for the good of everyone including the children. He noted that most children have difficulty expressing feelings of sadness and hopelessness. They will usually speak about boredom, rather than sadness - they seem more irritable than unhappy. Depression in childhood is common, and woefully often missed or misdiagnosed. Many behavioral problems as well as apparent vague physical maladies have as their root cause depression.