For a long time it was assumed that children lacked the emotional maturity to experience depression, even though most children feel down at times. Today, children are the fastest growing group diagnosed with depression.
It is estimated that two percent of children under 12 struggle with depressive symptoms, and that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) can occur in children as young as three.
Under the stereotype of teenage angst, teenagers often claim to be misunderstood, but parents should be careful not to misinterpret signs of teenage depression as a bad mood that will pass with time.
Untreated depression can have severe negative consequences on a person’s life, so take time to investigate any serious and significant mood changes.
After graduating high school, many adolescents are itching for independence, yet over half of Canadian twenty-somethings are still bunking with their parents.
Called the boomerang generation, today’s young adults face many challenges that can send them back to the stability of their childhood home, but putting them up again can be a challenge for parents as well.
While the adolescent is moved out, both parents and children grow accustomed to a new lifestyle and new freedoms that can be hard to mesh together when the child comes back to stay.
New Year’s Eve ends the holidays with a bang, and recognizing the effects of holiday indulgences can hit pretty hard.
People who assess their reflection and find a disconnect between what they look like and what they feel they “should” look like are experiencing body image issues. And dropping those extra pounds is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions.
Body image is a mental construct of what people think they look like; it can be grounded in reality or it can be very different from how others see you. Sometimes those extra pounds are only perceived by you.
The holiday season is here, and many of us are humming carols and preparing for a perfect celebration. We anticipate happy gift exchanges, good times catching up with family, and general harmony, but all these expectations will inevitably lead to some disappointments.
Sometimes there is a past holiday season that seems ideal in our memory that we are just unable to recreate, and instead what comes up at the holiday gathering is arguments from years past or old sibling rivalries.