Evening star., 1937-11-15
Handling Of
Depressed
Children
Have Patience as
1t Is Usually a
Passing Mood.
Bv ANGELO PATRI.

livery once in while teacher
or parent reports that pupil is
depressed; that he says he wants to
| die. He sits apart, refuses to be in
terested in anything, knits his brows
and drops his head and demands to
be left alone to die
Often this is a passing mood of
adolescence. Sometimes it is the symp-
tom of mental illness. In any case the
child is not to be laughed at or
teased or ignored. Nor is he to be
petted and made much of. and his
condition made matter, of excited
talk and flutter and general helter-
skelter behavior.
Be calm and get control of your own
mind first. 1t takes cool head and
steady mind to help depressed child.
First, and this is acutely important.
see that the child's eliminatory proc
esses are functioning to the limit.
Many case of depression gets its
start in intestinal indigestion.
Routine this child carefully. mean
by that see that his day is scheduled
so that he knows what to do and what
to expect from hour to hour. He rises
and goes to bed at set times without
variation. His meals are served by the
clock. His baths are taken at set
times, one in the morning and one at
night according to what the physician
says. His diet must be regulated by
his physician.
Play, that is, recreation of some
Sort is essential to the depressed child
Don't expect him to play baseball
He rarely does. But find the activity
that pleases him, and let that be his
recreation. He is likely to want music.
He should have it. Maybe he will work
in the garden raising some particular
plant. Maybe he wants to walk or
ride. If he will swim that will be
just fine. Try to get some sort of
fun into his day. Keep on trying
no matter how many times he re-
fuses
olAlS AL q CoIl pduIOI vi TWO. lIl-
sist that they come. Do the insist
ing out of the patients hearing. Let
the responsibility for seeing them fall
on the child. Take much for granted
when you are trembling with anxiety.
The casual air Is best.
The work the child does is of chief
importance. He must succeed in it,
master some phase of it. Failure in
school or at home is ore of the most
frequent causes of depression in ado
lescent children Fit the work to
their powers so thay can succeed and
never mind the grades. Once he gets
past this hard place the grades will
attend to themselves.
Study the people about this child
and be quick to discover any who have
a depressing influence upon him. Con-
slant fault7fmding, haunting. teasing
are very bAd. So, too, is the influence
of one ho keeps holding up impoaSi=
bl Standards or impossible achieve-1
.ments. I've seen one boy laid on his
back because man kept telling him
what a fine fellow he would be if only
he could fly like Lindbergh The boy
had no qualification for flying, and
why should he be told to be a Lind
bergh? There can be but one Of him.
That kind of thing is cruel, deadly to
mental health.
Guard such childs health. Keep
him under the care of expert physi-
clans and teachers. Associate him
with cheerful, healthy, normal folk.
Usually he will come thrS(Gh Death
Is only word to him, a aYmbol to
express feelings that are t6 much
for him. Give him the care he needs
and he will live. And be as happy
as anybody else.
Mr.. Patri will give personal atten-
ton to inquiries from parents and
aahool teachers on the care and devel-
bent of children. Write him in -
u this paper, inclosing a Sc
st.)mped. self-addressed envelope loi
4 tcopyrisht. 1879