Childhood Depression & Anxiety
One night I was marking my students' exams, in my hands, reading the answer of one of them, I burst into tears. My wife was sitting very close to me, playing with her mobile phone, and she, noticing my posture, approached me:
— Why are you crying, love?
— Yesterday, in a school reflection activity, I left a question for the children to answer on a sheet of paper and illustrate it: What do you want? Answer in a broken voice.
— And what has touched your soul and made you cry? asks Katherine, who is immersed in front of her mobile phone screen.
— The answer to one of the papers has touched me deeply.
— Let's see, what answer was able to bring a tear to your eye from that shapely athletic body? Asked Katherine, in a mocking tone, while she was still immersed in the game on her mobile phone.
— Listen, I replied, wiping my eyes…:
“ᙏყ ρᥲɾᥱᥒt⳽ Ꙇoʋᥱ tᖾᥱɩɾ ⳽ຕᥲɾtρᖾoᥒᥱ⳽ ᥲᥒᑯ ᥴoຕρᥙtᥱɾ ʋᥱɾყ ຕᥙᥴᖾ. Ʈᖾᥱყ ᥴᥲɾᥱ ⳽o ຕᥙᥴᖾ ᥲᑲoᥙt tᖾᥱຕ tᖾᥲt tᖾᥱყ oƒtᥱᥒ ƒoɾɠᥱt ᥲᑲoᥙt ຕᥱ. ᙎᖾᥱᥒ ຕყ ຕotᖾᥱɾ ᥴoຕᥱ⳽ ᖾoຕᥱ tɩɾᥱᑯ ƒɾoຕ ωoɾƙ, ⳽ᖾᥱ ƒɩᥒᑯ⳽ tɩຕᥱ to ᑲᥱ ɩᥒ ƒɾoᥒt oƒ tᖾᥱ ρᖾoᥒᥱ, ᑲᥙt ᥒot ƒoɾ ຕᥱ. ᙎᖾᥱᥒ ຕყ ρᥲɾᥱᥒt⳽ ᥲɾᥱ ᑯoɩᥒɠ ɩຕρoɾtᥲᥒt ωoɾƙ ᥲᥒᑯ tᖾᥱɩɾ ⳽ຕᥲɾtρᖾoᥒᥱ⳽ ɾɩᥒɠ, tᖾᥱყ ᥲᥒ⳽ωᥱɾ ɩຕຕᥱᑯɩᥲtᥱꙆყ, ᑲᥙt tᖾᥱყ ᥒᥱʋᥱɾ ᥲᥒ⳽ωᥱɾ ຕᥱ; ᥒot ᥱʋᥱᥒ ωᖾᥱᥒ Ꙇ ᥲຕ ᥴɾყɩᥒɠ. Ꙇ ωɩ⳽ᖾ Ꙇ ωᥲ⳽ oꙆᑯ ᥱᥒoᥙɠᖾ to ᑲᥱ ɠɩʋᥱᥒ ᥲ ຕoᑲɩꙆᥱ ρᖾoᥒᥱ ⳽o Ꙇ ᥴoᥙꙆᑯ tᥲꙆƙ to tᖾᥱຕ... Ʈᖾᥱყ ρꙆᥲყ ωɩtᖾ tᖾᥱɩɾ ρᖾoᥒᥱ⳽, ᑲᥙt ᥒᥱʋᥱɾ ωɩtᖾ ຕᥱ. Ꙇ ƒᥱᥱꙆ tᖾᥲt ωᖾᥱᥒ Ꙇ ᥲຕ tᥱꙆꙆɩᥒɠ tᖾᥱຕ ⳽oຕᥱtᖾɩᥒɠ ɾᥱꙆᥱʋᥲᥒt, tᖾᥱყ ᥒᥱʋᥱɾ Ꙇɩ⳽tᥱᥒ to ຕᥱ. Ꙇ ωᥲᥒt to ᑲᥱᥴoຕᥱ ᥲ ⳽ຕᥲɾtρᖾoᥒᥱ, tᖾᥲt'⳽ ຕყ ωɩ⳽ᖾ…”.
Children's depression
Now it was my wife Katherine, wiping away tears.
— Which of your students wrote that? Their parents must be irresponsible, miserable people. Katherine asked me defensively.
Covering her mobile phone with my hand and looking into her eyes, I replied:
— It's Theo, our son…!
Let's not sacrifice our family and relationships for material things. Smartphones -the screens-, exist to make our lives easier; not to control us, making us more dependent and anti-social.
It is not too late to rescue a real family life, like in the old days, when there was no Internet and social networks. Switch off for a few hours, chat with your partner, your children, and your friends. Talk to the people you love and make sure they feel loved. It is simply adapting to these times without neglecting the most important thing: LIVING.
All this stems from my concerns generated after reading Cathy A. Malchiodi PhD ATR-BC LPCC's book Understanding Children's Drawings, which I recommend, because they are truths, sometimes not tangible because we are distracted by our professional activities; who knows, immersed on the web of social networks and online games.
The child's spontaneous drawing that may reveal depression is based on the child's own narratives in response to their images, rather than on specific elements or symbols of their artistic expressions.
These 4 themes are particularly significant (both for the content and the child's narratives): sadness/loss; isolation-loneliness; hopelessness; themes of destruction or self-destruction. These 4 aspects are not easily separable, and children often express one or more of them in their drawings or narratives of artistic expression.
WHAT DOES A CHILD'S DRAWING CONCEAL?
We have to recognise that illustrations vary depending on the culture in which the child is immersed. The drawing of a child from a Third World country is not the same as that of a child from a first world country, but this does not mean that we should not be attentive, that we ourselves should be investigators of our children's behaviour, as we could be guilty of being the cause of their depression.
Thank you for reading. I look forward to reading your interesting comments and to the best of my ability, within my own experience with an autistic child, to respond to them.
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I question some of the interpretations of children's drawings, though perhaps on an average and in younger children it is accurate enough. As they age however, I think it becomes too random, as it depends on what kinds of drawing "lessons" the child has learned in life.
When I was young I never understood why children and several adults when asked to draw a house always did it with a “chimney”, when in my native country, 99% of the houses have NO chimney… It is curious the power of the first world countries through television. Here in Canada, no child draws a house without a chimney, even the buildings are painted with one. Does it have something to do with the science of Santa CLOUS coming in through chimneys?